Staying Alive
by ChangeHeart
Summary: The CPUs of Gamindustri having been fighting up in Celestia for a long while now. However, because of their absence from their nations, terror has come down on their people, including Hikari. And Hikari, like many, fall victim to what is to come.
1. Chapter 1

**[Chapter 1]**

 _*BOOM!*_

 _The blasts sent us flying, crashing into the side of a building. Luckily, neither one of us had died._

 _However, that was enough to separate us..._

 _The rubble of the buildings crashed down to the ground, in between where Masako and I had fallen. The two of us had become separated, and I was trapped in an enclosed space._

 _*Crash!*_

 _I cried out to him. "M-Masako!"_

 _"Hikari!" He responded with a faint cry. "A-Are you okay?!"_

 _I did my best to steady my breathing, trying not to cry or lose my composure. I swallowed hard. "Y-Yeah, I'm still alive. Look, just try to get some help. Come back for me later!"_

 _"N-No!" His shout rang through the enclosed space. "I'm not leaving you behind! You'll die!"_

 _"GO!" I shouted back. It was taking everything I had to not lose my composure. "I'll be fine, I swear! I'll be right behind you, so just go!"_

 _"… A-Alright..." In the end, Masako caved into my words. "But you better catch up or else!"_

 _Even though it was dimly lit in the space, everything around me became blurry and I felt my body begin to tremble._

 _My emotions were finally coming out as I fell to my knees and the tears came. "Y-Yeah...*sniff*. I..*hic*..p-promise..."_

 _"Don't worry," he said. "The nation's CPU will save you! Just hang in there!"_

 _"…" Those were the last words he said to me before I heard him break into a sprint, his footsteps ringing._

 _I could hear the people's screams, their cries echoing and the violent shaking from the destruction being caused._

 _"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I let my tears pour from my eyes._

 _As the tears poured from me, I punched the ground over and over again. If the CPU was supposed to protect us, then where were they? Did they leave us out here to die? All because of their dumb Console War?_

 _"H-Huh?" That was when I noticed it._

 _Wiping my tears away, I steadied my breathing and listened._

 _But I couldn't hear a single thing. No screams, explosions, nothing..._

 _*Crash!*_

 _Suddenly, the rubble was destroyed and the light shined into the dark, enclosed space, my gaze landing on the shadow of a figure. Even though I couldn't see their body, I could see their eyes and that was all I needed to know who it was._

 _I stared back into the pair of blue eyes, shining brightly in the darkness. It was the CPU of the nation._

 _She reached out and offered me a hand, smiling. "Come, you must be injured. Let's hurry out of here."_

 _I nodded, speechless as I took her hand and she pulled me towards her._

 _"Thank y—A-Agh!"_

 _*SHK!*_

 _Before I could thank her, I felt a piercing pain drive through my gut, reaching all the way up into my throat. Slowly the CPU's smile coiled into a sinister one while everything around me turned to a crimson tone._

 _The energy inside of me was slowly being sapped from me as I fell to the ground, the world becoming distant._

 _Before I was allowed the pleasure of crashing to the hard ground, the CPU lifted me back up, jerking my head to look at someone._

 _"…!" My eyes widened at what I saw._

 _Masako laid on the ground, the lower part of his body trapped and crushed by huge boulders. Blood oozed from the cracks of the rubble._

 _"H-Hikari..." His eyes welled up with tears upon seeing me._

 _I could only watch speechlessly, unable to say anything or read his lips._

 _"That poor man..." The CPU shook her head before leaning close to my ear. "Why don't I put him out of his misery for you?"_

 _I couldn't move or say anything as I was thrown back to the ground, forced to face Masako, watching the CPU slowly make her way towards him._

 _I squeezed my eyes shut to shield my vision from the sight._

 _*Shk!*_

 _"G-GAHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

 _But that wasn't enough to stop my ears from hearing his last, piercing and pleading cry._

 _*Shk!*_

 _Forced to open my eyes due to immense sudden pain, I found the CPUs weapon stabbed through me again. The little breath and strength that had remained of me were drained once she pulled the blade from my gut._

 _I was right... CPUs were unreliable. No, they didn't care about their nation or its people. They only cared about themselves. No, CPUs weren't the protectors or the ones people should worship. In the end, they were just selfish beings, like everyone else in this cruel world. All they cared about was their stupid Console War._

 _Too bad everybody was blind to that. Their ignorance was what got us into this situation in the first place._

 _And it was all because of the existence of the damn CPUs..._

 _It was then that I felt the last of my strength leave me, blinded by a white light._

 _I guess this was it..._

 _And I didn't even achieve my dream._

 _Even though I was about to die, I prayed that I would somehow make it. I prayed to somehow miraculously survive so that I could kill each and every CPU..._

 _That was all I wanted to do. But, instead, I would die..._

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _And here is the first chapter! Uploaded this early just because it's the first chapter and I had some time._**

 ** _I actually didn't think that it'd take this long to write this story. I guess school and work just got the best of me. Anyways, this story has been written and will be uploaded every Friday. The schedule is on the page if you'd like to look for it._** ** _Regarding the other two OC short stories, they shouldn't take that long to write. This one just happened to go on longer than I thought. The other two will be around 10-15 chapters, but I'm not promising anything. That's all I really have to say. But, the poll on my page is still going on if you haven't voted on that yet. It'll end once the last OC story has been written. So, if you haven't voted, you should vote if it's not too late already. Well, that's it for me this time! Hope you all enjoy this story!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 2]**

"…"

 _Hikari... It's time to wake up..._

"…!"

*Crash!*

All my senses suddenly came back to me as a voice called out to me. As my senses slowly came back to me and my vision cleared up, I slowly took in my surroundings.

But that was when it hit me.

I looked down at myself, examining my hand first. Staring at it as I moved my fingers, I watched in amazement. Then I shifted my attention to my actual body.

"…"

Instead of finding the huge gash in my body and the bloody mess staining my clothes, I stared down at the white gown that I found myself in. Clearly, someone had undressed and redressed me.

I reached and touched at the spot where the gash had been created. However, instead of finding a warm, smooth feeling running down my fingertips, I only felt something smooth and cold.

But I was still in shock that I was alive.

I continued playing around with my senses. Pinching myself, sniffing the air, running my fingers through the freezing liquid that I knelt in.

That was when I realized that my hand was covered in a black metal. Staring at my other hand, it was the same story. But so was my arm. Both of them.

They were also plated in a metal with various other parts I didn't recognize.

"…!" That's when I also realized why my body had felt so smooth and cold.

I pulled up my white gown, revealing to me that my smooth skin was no longer there. Instead, my body was now made of sharp edges, metals and other unknown materials.

I poked at my metal body. It was free of any skin. Besides my face, my entire body had been turned to metal. I had been changed. I was no longer the person I used to be.

But...

But, maybe it was all just a temporary thing. I was probably actually dead and just waiting to be sentenced to Hell.

If that was the case though, the room I was in was an odd one.

It was similar to a factory room, machines covered the large, spacious room, whining and puffing smoke out while the flames roared. I sat in the center of the room, sitting right under a broken glass capsule, one that I had probably fallen out of. Leaking from the capsule was a greenish, cold liquid that I sat in.

Finally, I decided to stand up. Getting to my feet. I noticed my body felt fine. In fact, I couldn't feel any pain at all and I could hear every fine detail throughout the room. Every ash particle touching the ceiling, every flame that crackled, the sounds of the various materials burning and much more.

In the end, I came to the conclusion that I had been inside the capsule, filled the greenish liquid.

"Ah, good to see you're finally awake, Hikari. Good morning."

"…!" I spun my head to where the voice came from. The same voice that I had heard early and made my senses return to me.

It was a man. Brown hair, tall and wearing a suit.

Clearly, wherever this was, it didn't seem like a place where the dead would go. But I wasn't about to cross out the idea. At least, not yet.

My eyes met his, faintly reflected by his thin glasses. I tried speaking for the first time. "W-Who...are you...?"

The man smiled at me. "Ah, you seem alright. That's good, considering how long you were in there."

I shook my head, ignoring his noteworthy statement. Instead, I repeated my question. This time, louder. "Who are you?"

"Ah, yes. Sorry," he let out a light laugh and smiled. "My name is Ganache. Pleased to meet you. Well, this your first time seeing me after all. However, it's not my first time seeing you, Hikari."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "And what did you mean by I was in that capsule for a long time?"

"Calm down," he put a finger to his lip, trying to hush me like a child. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions right now, but, first, you need to calm down a bit. If you would follow me, then I'll take you to someplace that's more suitable for talking."

"H-Hold on!" Before he could turn and begin walking off, I called out to him, catching his attention. "C-Can I at least know one thing right now?"

"Hm?" Ganache turned his head back to me. "Sure. What is it?"

I gulped hard and let out a deep breath. "A-Am I... Am I alive...?"

"…"

"…"

"….Heh!" After an awkward, silent exchange of eye contact, he smirked and pushed his frames up. "Well, you're here and alive, aren't you?"

"Y-Yeah..." I quickly nodded. "But how am I ali—"

"As I said, I'll answer all of your questions in a more suitable place," he cut me off. "Alright?"

I sighed, slumping my shoulders. "Y-Yeah... Alright..."

He returned to his smile. "Good. Now, what do you say we also get something to eat? You must be famished, considering you haven't eaten in such a long time..."

"Yeah, I am..." I frowned at his statement, annoyed that he was teasing me with all the questions I had on my mind. However, I sucked it up and did my best to not say anything snappy back.

"Then, let's head down to the cafeteria and get something to eat, my treat," he said with smug smile, ushering me towards him as if I were a dog. "Come on. The food won't wait on you."

Instead of trying to think up some comeback, I just gave a quiet nod and followed him out of the room.

All I wanted were answers. And I planned to get them, even if it had to be from this guy.

I wanted to know what had happened to me.

More importantly, I wanted to see if it was still possible to achieve my goal.

A goal that now seemed possible...

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Sorry for the late upload, it was pretty busy today and I got overloaded. Anyways, here's the second chapter of the story! If some of you still don't know, it'll be uploaded every Friday.**

 **Onto different news, I added a few things to my page if you'd like to check that out. Also, I'm already about halfway done with the second OC story, so I should be able to start uploading that within the next few weeks if all goes accordingly.**

 **Finally, my good friend** ** _assassinguy200_ is going to start uploading his next major OC story. The first chapter will be uploaded on October 19(Which is the upcoming Thursday) at around 8 - 10 P.M. EST. If any of you are interested in that, then do consider checking his page and the story when it comes out! His OC, Hikan Masato, was first featured in _Colors of Darkness_. So, if you need something to read soon, then do consider checking his story.**

 **Anyways, that's all I got for now. Until next time, thanks for reading and until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 3]**

I followed Ganache through the large complex, walking down the long, echoey corridors while we remained silent.

Since he kept shushing me, I really couldn't do much besides stare at his back and follow him through the complex.

Eventually, after much walking and staring at the back of his expensive suit, he stopped at a door at the end of a long hallway, turning around to face me.

Ganache cleared his throat. "Sorry about that. The people in the complex just don't really appreciate talking in the halls."

I cast him a sharp glare. "I'll say! You didn't let me say a single thing during that whole walk. Like, come on!"

In response, Ganache bowed apologetically. "Again, I'm truly sorry. It's a rule we all have to follow. I should have informed you earlier. If you would mind forgetting about it, I can treat you to some food."

Grrr...*

As if on cue, my stomach let out a loud growl, my ears reddening. "Y-Yeah... S-Sure..."

Smiling in delight, Ganache nodded and faced the steel door. He swiped a card and the door opened. He looked back over his shoulder at me. "Come on. The chefs should have their food about done by now."

I continued to nod my head and quickly followed Ganache into the room. I was just really hungry.

We both took a seat at a nearby booth. Sitting across from him, I watched as he took off his suit jacket, revealing his dress shirt. Ganache nodded. "Now, why don't we order?"

"Sure," I looked around the room. "U-Um... How do we order?"

He smiled. "Oh, my bad. Let me pull up our meal options."

I watched as he made gestures in the air, causing a holographic menu to appear in front of each of us.

"…" My mouth fell open at the variety of choices I had. I had thought there were only a few options like a burger or pasta.

Instead, there were dozens upon dozens of food options, ranging from foods I had never even heard of before to the common things I ate every day. Luckily, there were pictures of the listed foods. Though, that made it even harder to decide on what to eat.

Ganache cocked his head at me, wearing an amused expression. "What's wrong? Have you ever been offered food choices before? Just pick anything you'd like. Remember, I'm paying, so you could get anything that you'd like today."

"Yeah... Alright," I took a deep breath and stared at my options once again. Even if I had the luxury of ordering anything I wanted, I wasn't about to do that. To me, it didn't feel right doing that; it just made me feel guilty.

Eventually, I decided.

Pointing at the one I wanted, a large bowl of ramen with a variety of toppings, I tapped on it, causing the sound of a ding.

That was when my menu disappeared into thin air and the bowl of ramen appeared right in front of me.

I stared at it in disbelief, Ganache watching in amusement. "What's wrong? Isn't that what you ordered? Or is it too much food for you to handle?"

I shook my head rapidly. "N-No. I-I just wasn't expecting to eat in such a fashion. I'm not used to this kind of thing."

He laughed. Every time he did, it made me frustrated, as if I was a child that didn't know anything. "I understand this must all be hard to take in, considering you don't really know what's going on right now."

I rolled my eyes. _Really? What gave that away?_

"But," he continued, "all shall be explained after we've eaten."

I took a moment to examine the room, giving a silent nod to his words.

The room was basically just a large room filled with bright, fluorescent lights, booths and tables, and was packed with people eating and chatting.

I sighed. "Alright., I'll try to get done soon so I can get some answers..."

Ganache just smirked. "Well, wasting your time talking to yourself won't exactly help."

"Yeah, yeah..." Rolling my eyes, I began slurping down the noodles and its various contents,

Though I was extremely hungry, I was hungrier for answers as to what was going on.

And that was all I really wanted right now.

* * *

Despite how hot the noodles and broth had been, along with how much food there was, I had managed to finish the noodles in under five minutes. Though, it was anything but clean.

Using a napkin, I did my best to wipe away my mess. The whole time, Ganache just watched me as he quietly chewed on his steak.

"Haa..." Finishing, I tossed the napkin into the bowl, watching it disappear into thin air. I then looked up at Ganache. "Alright, can you answer my questions now? I think I've waited long enough..."

Finishing the last of his steak, Ganache set his silverware down, disappearing along with his plate. He wiped away the sauce on his face and nodded at me. "Yes, you're right. Plus, we're in a more suitable place to discuss this. That being said, are you prepared for what I'm about to tell you?"

"I was ready when I first met you," I muttered.

"Alright then," pushing his frames back up, Ganache's expression became serious. "As you know, you were killed by the CPU known as Black Heart, the CPU of Lastation. Am I correct so far?"

"Yeah..." My hands slowly balled up into fists. "So, that wasn't a dream then..."

He nodded. "Then, if you don't mind, I'll continue with my explanation."

"Yeah, please do," I urged him on.

"Well, you actually weren't killed. At least, you weren't dead yet," Ganache explained. "You were barely hanging on when we showed up and saved you. From there, we injected you with a cell that would, not only dramatically increase your physical and mental abilities—such as strength, hearing, reflexes, processing, and healing—but it also made your body more immune to many diseases and such.

"With the cell—the Core Cell—injected in you, we were able to save you and take you here, to our facility, After that, we fixed you up and made you into a cyborg. Considering you had already been damaged in the worst spots, we just replaced most of your body parts with cyborg parts," Ganache explained. "Basically, we made you into a cyborg using our latest technology and enhanced your abilities. Afterwards, we set you inside the glass capsule and allowed you to heal. That brings us to now."

"…" I let it all sink in, staring down at my new body, my cyborg body. "So... I'm a cyborg now?"

Ganache nodded. "Yes, that's why you're here right now. If we didn't make you one, you would be dead. Or, if you were lucky, in a wheelchair."

"…" I grabbed a nearby fork. Without putting any real effort into it, the fork bent by applying the slightest force to it. In a panic, I dropped it on the floor.

I spun to Ganache. "W-Wait! Why didn't I break my bowl or anything while I was eating!?"

"Simple," Ganache replied calmly. "Most of the stuff in the complex was created, knowing the power cyborgs and machines could possess. Knowing that, they made it with material that was also able to withstand the regular force of people like you."

I swallowed hard, staring down at the fork. "So, this is my body now...?"

"Yes," Ganache confirmed. "You're now a cyborg, Hikari. With that being said, I'd like to offer you something."

My eyes quickly darted back up to his. "W-What is it?"

He leaned closer. "We'll help you learn to use your body effectively and fight. In exchange, we'd like for you to do a job for us and then you'll be free to do whatever you'd like. Particularly, it's a job you might be interested in personally."

"…" I stared at him with a confused expression. "Me? Why me?"

He smiled. "Well, considering how you died, I would assume you have a grudge against the CPU of this nation, Black Heart. Am I correct?"

I gritted my teeth, anger beginning to boil up inside me. It was then that I became a lot more invested in the conversation. "I'm listening. Go on."

"Well, we need you to destroy an item. It's one that the CPU and the CPU of Planeptune are going after because it'll help them win a competition we'll be in," Ganache explained. "That being said, we'd like you to destroy that item for us. And, if you're up for it, kill the CPUs and anyone with them."

I stared at him, confused. "That makes no sense. If they're doing that now, how do you expect me to be trained and ready so soon?"

Ganache smirked. "Simple. We'll be running you through a simulation that will teach you everything you'll need to know. The simulation is all in your head and will happen instantly. You can spend all the time in there that you'd like, but only a second will pass in real life."

I nodded. "Alright. I'm up for it then."

Ganache smiled. "Alright then. I have faith in you. If you do this, then we'll let you leave and do whatever you want."

"If I can take out the CPUs by doing this, then I'll do it," I said. "I'm ready, so let's get this over with."

Ganache nodded for a final time. "Then I wish you the best of luck."

All I wanted to do was kill the CPUs. I had been given the second chance to make it possible.

And I wasn't going to let this opportunity pass.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **There's not really much for me to say this time. I actually only wrote one chapter this week cause I got sidetracked with a few things. However, the second short OC story only has a few more chapters left and then it'll be done. On that note, I also decided that once I start the next big story project, whichever one gets first place in the poll, I won't be pre-writing those chapters. Instead, I'll be writing those as I go along, like how I used to write.** **That way, I feel like the chapters are fresher and allow for more creativity.** **That's all I really got to say this time.** **Honestly, I don't know how many of you read these, but thanks for reading the chapter and I hope to see you all later!**


	4. Chapter 4

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 4]**

I took a deep breath sitting in the barren room. There were only a few chairs and a table in there. I sat quietly, waiting for Ganache to show up and fill me in on what I had to do. Apparently, he also wanted to give me something.

After waiting for thirty or so minutes in the small room, I began to drift into my own thoughts.

After I had been bound down to take the simulation, I had learned to master many of the new functions of my body. Though, I was still having a hard time believing this was my new body.

Even though in the simulation, I had had a year to mess with it, it still felt completely new to me in a way. To an extent, I still couldn't comprehend the fact that this was my new body.

*Clang! Clang!*

Hearing a knock on the metal door, my attention turned to it.

It was Ganache that had knocked on it. "Hikari? Are you ready?"

I stood up from the chair, kicking it to its side and making it fall to the floor. I faced the door again. "Yeah, I'm ready. You can come in now."

At my cue, the door slid open for Ganache. He wore a smile. "Good to see you're ready to go. How are you feeling?"

I shrugged. "I feel fine. Part of me still can't believe this is actually my body though."

Ganache gave a nod. "I'm sure you'll be fine though. With that being said, I'd like to brief you on what your mission is."

"Alright," I picked the chair that I had kicked down back up, taking a seat in it. Ganache did the same. "Explain to me what exactly you want me to do."

"Right," Ganache cleared his throat, pulling out a tablet that displayed a map. On it, it marked a part of Gamindustri. "The marked area is where we would like for you to go. It's the location of an ore that the CPUs need for their weapon for the event. We want you to stop them. Or, if you really want, you can kill them there. Though, our client might not be happy about that..."

I cocked my head, wondering about his last few words. "Client? What do you mean?"

"Ah, I forgot to mention that, didn't I?" Ganache laughed lightly. "Sorry that I keep leaving out these details. We actually have a client that also wants to see the CPUs gone. Specifically, they want to copy the CPUs powers..."

"…" I remained silent at his words. "I see..."

He quickly shook his head. "Don't worry. We'll still allow you the honor of killing Black Heart. Just keep in mind of our client."

I let out a heavy sigh. "Alright... Is that about it?"

Ganache nodded. "Yes. But I would like to gift you a few things before we let you go off to do this."

I stared at him curiously. "Gift? What kind of gift could you possibly give me?"

He smiled, flashing a disc. "This..."

I took the offered disc, staring at my distorted reflection. "A disc? How's this supposed to help me?"

"It's not about the disc," Ganache said. "It's about what's inside the disc..."

I continued to stare at the disc. "Inside?"

At that moment, the disc flashed a bright light, forcing me to squeeze my eyes shut. Opening them back up, I found a large, long case on the floor.

I looked back at Ganache, slightly confused. "Is this what you meant?"

He sat with his legs crossed. "It is. Now, just open it."

Without wasting any more time, I turned my attention back to the case. I knelt down to it and took off the buckles. Taking a deep breath, I pulled the case cover off, revealing what was inside.

Inside was a thin katana blade. I picked it up. Instantly, lightning began surging through it.

I looked back at Ganache. "Is this mine?"

"It is," Ganache confirmed. "That blade was specifically made for you. Using our latest technology, we also managed to infuse and charge it with lightning. Meaning, it's an even better blade than the typical katana. What do you think?"

I stared at the katana's blade, the lightning emitting from it. I turned my attention to one of the chairs.

*Shk!*

As I gave it a quick slash, the chair was instantly sliced through. I stared at the ruined chair. The blade had cut cleanly through it. "This katana seems pretty good... What's the catch?"

Ganache just laughed and shook his head. "There isn't a catch. The only thing you could consider a catch is that you have to do this mission for us. After that, you're free to do whatever you please."

I smirked. "Well, aren't you kind?"

"We also have something else for you," Ganache said, pulling out yet another disc. "This won't affect you too much, but I feel like you'd enjoy it."

I took the disc. As I closed my eyes, the blinding white light filled the room again and the disc revealed what was inside of it. Opening my eyes, I found a box.

"…" Curiously, I opened the box, revealing a pair of clothes. I looked back at Ganache. "Clothes?"

"Yes," Ganache confirmed my wonder with a nod. "After all, wearing that gown won't exactly be the most comfortable thing ever. So, we tailored you an outfit that should help you breathe better and move more freely."

I pulled out the outfit in the box. There was a gray, tight top with long sleeves. The bottom was a pair of black leggings. With that, there were also black leather gloves and matching boots.

I looked at Ganache. "All of this is mine?"

Ganache just smiled at me. "Yes, it is. All you have to do is accomplish this mission. It doesn't matter too much if you fail. As long as you can slow them down, that's all that matters."

"I got it," I confirmed.

"That being said, let me show who you'll possibly be going up against," Ganache said, pulling the tablet back up. He displayed me the screen that displayed the four CPUs. "These are the CPUs in their HDD forms. Unfortunately, I couldn't get their normal forms. This was the best we could do."

I shrugged and stared at their faces, doing my best to memorize them. "It's fine. This should be enough."

The one from Planeptune had violet braided tails, dark blue eyes and pale skin.

Lastation's CPU, the one that had killed me, had long white hair, turquoise eyes and fair skin.

Lowee's CPU had silver, short hair with long bangs, red eyes and also fair skin.

Leanbox's CPU had green hair in a high ponytail, purple eyes and pale skin.

"We recently received word that all four of the CPUs are traveling together," Ganache informed me. "With that being said, you might want to proceed with caution. Though they don't know you're coming, you could possibly be facing all four of them."

I smiled. "If I can kill all four of them instead of having to pick them off one by one, then that's fine by me."

Ganache nodded. "Then I'll trust that you'll succeed. Good luck to you, Hikari."

Taking the clothes I had just received, I sheathed my blade and began making my way to a changing room. After that, I would go take out the CPUs.

And I didn't plan on failing either, even if I had to fight all four of the CPUs.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I didn't expect to be writing an Author's Note this week, but I guess I had to.  
It's about my computer mainly. Last Saturday, it had begun having drops in performances even when I just booted it up. So, for the past week, I had been trying to figure out what was causing the problem and trying to fix it. But, sadly, I haven't been able to fix my PC and that was what was taking up most of my time this week. Because of that, I haven't been able to write as many chapters as I'd like.  
Luckily, I remembered I had a laptop and I've recently switched back to that to write while I try to fix my computer on the side.  
Hopefully, I'll be able to make more progress next week, but I can't guarantee anything.  
I should still be able to upload though, so that's okay at least. That's all I really wanted to talk about though. I hope you guys can understand if the next short OC story takes a bit longer than expected, but I do promise that it's almost done!**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope to see you all next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 5]**

I looked at myself in the mirror, wearing the new clothes that I had received.

Now that I really thought about it, I didn't really need any clothes at all, considering I was nothing but parts of machinery now. Then again, the clothes would help me blend in and not stand out as much.

I sighed. "Well, whatever. It's time to do this."

Slinging my katana's sheath onto my back, I stepped out of the restroom. Actually, I would still look ridiculous with the katana strapped to my back. But, it still wasn't as bad as letting others see my body.

The cave I was heading to was close to where I used to hang around before I had been almost killed. So, I knew the general location of it. All I had to do was destroy the ores before the CPUs could get to it.

"Ah, I see you're ready."

I spun to see Ganache behind me. "Wow, way to show up."

He just smirked. "Those details don't matter. I'll just lead you to the entrance. After that, you know what to do. Now, if you would..."

As I nodded, he spun on his heel and began walking off; I followed close behind him.

We made our way through the halls, quietly.

I let out a groan. _Man, whoever made that rule was dumb..._

Eventually, after more irritating and silent walking, we made it to the large door leading out to the open.

Ganache turned back to face me once we arrived right in front of the door.

Walking up to me, he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Good luck to you, Hikari. Also, I'm sorry for making you have to do this."

I shrugged. "It's no big deal. Business is business, after all."

"Not about that," Ganache corrected. "I'm sorry for making you do any of this. Truthfully, I am a supporter of the CPU of Lowee, White Heart. But, this is what our client has been asking for and we're very busy preparing our exhibit to meet their criteria. Therefore, we need your help."

I shrugged. "It's not a problem. Honestly, I don't really care too much about the CPUs. I just don't like their philosophy. If you want, I'll only kill Black Heart. After all, she's the one that tried to kill me anyway, not any of the others."

Ganache smiled. "I see. Even with that in mind, I won't punish you for any measures you have to take. We at Avenir just wish to see this through for the client."

I nodded. "It's business, so I get what you're saying."

As I finished my words, the large doors slid open, letting the natural sunlight sweep into the complex.

"Right," Ganache's smile turned to a sympathetic one. "Well, I'll let you be off then. Good luck to you, Hikari."

I smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

With those last few words, I dashed out into the world, ready to face what was ahead.

* * *

"…"

I had made my way to a forest clearing. It was the spot where I had gotten lost at as a kid while playing tag. During that time, I had also found the cave where I was supposed to be.

Slowly, I silently made my way to the cave, raising my senses to be more alert.

Entering the cave, I was met by dimly glowing green crystals, clinging to the rocky walls.

It was bright enough to see without a flashlight, but it was still pretty hard to see in the dark and shadowy parts of the cave. That made it ideal, considering I wanted to do this quietly.

Lunging forward, I jumped onto the wall, bouncing off it and aiming for another wall deeper in the cave.

Continuing the process as I kept progressing deeper down into the cave, I jumped off the last wall and aimed for cover in a shadowed corner. Landing there, I took in my surroundings.

The cave was just mainly filled with Dogoos and Crystal Golems. It wasn't anything hard to beat, but they could still pose a threat if they attacked in large swarms. Becoming overwhelmed would be easy.

That would be the case if I didn't have this body.

I took another peek, trying to scan for the item I was looking for.

Ganache had specified earlier that the ore I was looking for was a bunch of clear crystals packed onto a large boulder.

Spotting it from across the clearing, I looked to see what stood in my way.

Several Dogoos and a few Crystal Golems roamed the area. It was nothing much though. I just had to do it quietly to make sure I didn't attract any unwanted attention. Not only would it reduce the chances of the CPUs finding me out, but it also made things potentially easier.

I unsheathed my blade, shifting into a stance and getting a hold of the clearings layout and what was in it.

*Bang!*

*Shk!* *Sk!*

Lunging forward, I aimed towards a Dogoo first, slashing at its body. As it was sliced through, I hopped from its squishy body and sped towards a Crystal Golem. Using the lightning in the katana, I was able to cleanly slice through the golem and jump back into the shadows.

I examined the clearing again. None of them had noticed the Dogoo or golem die. Now, there only remained one more golem and two Dogoos.

I glanced towards the ore then towards the upper level of the cave. The CPUs hadn't shown up and I was already almost done. I could do it.

Turning back, I lined up my strike. I was going to take out the remaining monsters with one more strike.

"…!"

*Shk!*

Bursting forward, everything slowed down around me as I focused my senses entirely, lining up my attack.

In a burst of energy, I sped by them and slashed all of them.

Everything returned to normal as my senses calmed and I looked back at the monsters. The monsters lay side by side, all of them sliced in half.

Sighing, I looked around the clearing. No monsters remained.

I smiled. "Alright, let's get this over with..."

Though, I kept my senses alert just in case. Gripping my blade, I made my way to the boulder packed with the crystal ores.

I stood in front of it, my katana gripped tightly in both hands. "…"

There didn't seem to be anything special about the ore, but I still didn't want to destroy it for some reason. Something about doing so just felt wrong.

But, I didn't exactly have a choice.

*BOOM!*

With a single blow, the boulder exploded into millions of chunks, the crystal ore scattering everywhere.

Before I let it fall, I charged my katana with lightning and sliced at every last one, leaving nothing behind.

I sighed as I put my katana back in its sheath. "Alright, I guess I better head back now..."

"Oh, hey!"

"Hm?"

Just as I turned around to get ready to go, a girl's voice called to me.

I turned back around to face her. She was actually just a kid. Messy, short lilac hair, matching eyes, and pale skin.

She ran up to me. "Slow down there, partner!"

I stared at her, confused for a second. "Um, do you need something?"

She puckered her lips, creating a childish pouty look. "You bet I do! I need that ore cause my friends are gonna be mad at me if I don't get some back!"

I still couldn't understand why this was happening. "W-What do you want me to do about it?"

She pointed at the destroyed boulder. "Go fix it! I need some of it!"

My eyes slowly followed to where she was pointing to. "I-I can't exactly fix it. If you want, I can look to see if there's any left there."

"Oh, would you?" She asked, smiling. "I'd very much appreciate that."

I nodded and walked back to the destroyed boulder, kneeling down. "Oh."

Managing to find one or two small crystals that I hadn't destroyed, I carefully scooped them up and walked back over to the girl, offering them to her. So much for not leaving anything behind... "Here, is this enough?"

Suddenly, her eyes gleamed brightly. "Wow! That's definitely enough! Thanks, gal pal!"

I shrugged. "It's no problem. Now, I'll be off now."

"W-Wait!" Before I could attempt to leave again, she called to me once more. "We didn't do the stereotypical thing where we exchange names!"

"Oh, okay," I cleared my throat. "I'm Hikari, nice to meet you. You are?"

The girl smiled. "My name's Neptune, also known as the best main character ever!"

"…" Her words confused me. "R-Right... Well, nice to meet you, Neptune. Maybe I'll see you again sometime."

"Okay! Thanks again, Hikari!" Neptune thanked me.

With a nod, I began making my way back towards the Avenir complex.

Even though I hadn't been offered the chance to kill Black Heart, I had at least destroyed the ore without any casualties. Though, I had given some to that Neptune girl.

But that wasn't what mattered.

My mission was done. Now, I would spend my days hunting for Black Heart.

It was all I wanted to do right now.

It was what was driving me forward.

Even if it was an impure motive.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **This week, I've actually got some good news!  
First, I got my computer fixed a few days after uploading last week's chapter. It was a long process overall, but I'm happy to be able to use it again.**

 **That leads me to my second piece of news which is I've gotten more chapters done this week! And with my computer back to its original state, I should be able to get the last few chapters done by the end of next week and edited by the week after that, ready to upload on that following Friday.**

 **Honestly, if there is any bad news, I would guess it'd be that I've been too busy with school and life in general. After I finish the last OC short story, my time will be put into studying for the ACT in December. After that's done, I'll get back to writing in January.**

 **Anyways, that's all I got to say for now. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you all next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 6]**

After making my way through Lastation, I had made it back to Avenir's complex.

The giant doors slid open to the side, revealing the insides of the Avenir complex building. Standing there was Ganache as if he were expecting me.

I walked up to him. "You seem like you were waiting for me..."

Ganache nodded. "Well, I guess you could say that. Actually, we recently received word from our client and they had something that I needed to inform you about."

I stared at him, wondering what it could be. "What could the client possibly want with me? I haven't even met them before. Do they somehow know me?"

"Apparently so," Ganache confirmed. "Anyways, it looks like you'll have to stick around with us for a little while longer."

"Why?" I asked. "Could you tell me what this client wants with me?"

"I was getting to that," Ganache said. "You see, our client, as I said once before, wants to take all of the CPUs' powers. Right now, they're currently weakened from a recent battle against them. With that being said, they have come to us, seeking a weapon that is capable of destroying the CPUs."

I gave a nod. "Alright, sure. What's this have to do with me, though?"

Ganache let out a frustrated sigh. "Well, after hearing about you and your new capabilities, the client wanted to ask if you would attend the event with us. At the event, we were planning on using our machine to destroy the CPUs. But, I guess that wasn't enough to satisfy them."

I let out a sigh. "So, you want me to go fight the CPUs there?"

"Only as a fail-safe," Ganache quickly added. "You won't have to fight if our machine can manage to destroy them."

"Alright then..." I responded with as little emotion as I possibly could. "If it means getting another shot at killing Black Heart, then I'll accept. When is it, though?"

"It'll be in three days," he answered. "Once it comes the time, we'll contact you on it. Until then, you'll be free to do whatever you want."

"Alright," I nodded.

"By the way," Ganache changed the topic. "How did your mission go?"

"Hm? Oh, that," I shrugged, realizing what he was talking about. "I destroyed all the ore without the CPUs knowing."

"I see..." Ganache smiled. "That'll be a great help to us. Thank you."

I crossed my arms. "I don't care. As long as I can kill that damn CPU, it's fine."

"Well, until then, you're free to do what you want," Ganache said. "Once again, we'll contact you before the event begins."

"Sure," I nodded. "This better be the last request though."

"Don't worry, it will be," Ganache claimed. "I swear it will be. If by chance, another request pops up, you're free to leave."

"Well, until the event, I'll be off doing my own thing," I said, walking away from the Avenir building.

Until then, I wanted to just relax and get a better understanding of everything that was going on.

Getting a good distance from the Avenir building, I climbed up a building, scanning the nation to decide on where to go.

I sat on the rooftop. "Hmmm... What do I want to do...?"

Honestly, with three days to do whatever I wanted, I really just wanted to get my thoughts in order.

Noticing a café nearby, I hopped down from the building, landing in a narrow dark alley.

Looking around, I made sure nobody noticed what I had just done. Now that I thought about it, clothes probably would help.

Walking out into the streets, I received a few looks. But, nobody paid any real attention and just continued on with their business.

I smiled. "Alright, looks like this won't be so troublesome to just get some food."

Glad that I wouldn't cause any trouble, I began making my way towards the café.

But that's when I realized I technically didn't even need to eat. Still, I was already committed.

* * *

*Ding!*

"Hello, welcome to Café Noire!"

Upon arriving and entering the café, a bell rang and a waitress came to the door to greet me, smiling. "Are you going to be eating here today, ma'am?"

"U-Uh... Y-Yeah..." I was shocked at her kindness. "It's just me..."

She gave a nod. "Alright. This way then!"

She led me to a table and allowed me to take a seat there. As I did, she pulled out a notepad, clearing her throat. "Would you like to get something to drink?"

"Um..." I thought for a moment. "I'll just take a glass of water."

"Alright then!" She quickly scrawled it down on the pad and hurried away.

I let my thoughts process while I waited and looked through the menu in front of me.

The person who was serving me didn't seem to care that I was clearly a cyborg, while the people around me were casting me funny looks. Sure, I wasn't the only cyborg, but I was one of the only few out there.

"There you go," the waitress had returned, placing the glass of water by my side and pulling out her notepad again. "Are you ready to order or do you need some more time?"

I folded the menu back to what it was originally and looked up at her. "I'll just take a roast beef sandwich."

Scrawling my order down, the waitress took my menu and smiled. "Alright, we'll go get your order ready as fast as possible!"

I nodded. "Thank you."

As she turned and walked away again, I took a sip from the ice-cold water. Finally, I could finally sit down and think.

Even though I had a goal, I still wanted to relax and have some downtime. If I did nothing but chase down Black Heart, it would just be tiring.

So, I decided to relax in the café and have some time to myself.

But, there was something in the back of my mind that I kept thinking about.

Who was Avenir's client and what did they want with me?

If I ever met them, I would have to be cautious...

*Ding!*

"Thank you, and do come again!"

Finishing my food and paying with the money I had received from Avenir, I left the café.

"MEORW!"

"H-Hey! Come back!"

"A-Agh!"

Just as I stepped back out onto the streets, a cat pounced on me. Using me as a platform, the cat hopped from my head and landed on the edge of a nearby building as if it were a perch.

"…" I watched as it curled itself into a ball and began to nap. With the cat was a white shopping bag.

"H-Hey! C'mon!"

"Hm?"

Turning to face the way where the cat had come from, a girl came running towards me. She was probably after the cat.

She didn't seem to notice me yet, so I just watched her quietly.

She ran to the spot below the window of the cat, glaring at it. "Give me back my bag!"

"Meow!" Peeking its eyes open, the cat hissed at the girl and tightened its hold on the bag.

"Give me my bag back, now!"

"…" I looked around. Somehow, nobody was paying attention to what was going on besides me. Was this a normal occurrence or something?

"Hey," I walked up to the girl. "Would you like me to help you get the cat?"

"H-Huh?" Her attention turned to me. A pair of ruby red eyes stared back at me. "A-Are you sure? I-I can do it on my own..."

"… Well, are you sure?" I asked, looking at how high the cat had somehow gotten. "Are you really going to climb up four floors of an apartment building to risk getting some bag?"

"I could say the same about you," she snapped back. "What makes you think you're any better? Besides, I'm the CP—Urk!"

"Hm?" I had been half listening to what she had been saying. My focus had been on how to get up to the window without looking suspicious. "Could you say that again? I wasn't really listening."

"I-It was nothing!" She suddenly blurted out. "Anyways, can you get the cat down or not?"

"Hm..." I pondered my options. I mean, she must've realized I was a cyborg, so there was no harm in using my abilities. Though, I didn't really want to draw attention to myself.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I can get up there."

"Really?" Her voice had a tone that seemed to signal "I feel like you're just trying to sound cool."

"Yeah," I nodded, getting into a stance. "Watch..."

*Clang!*

Hopping onto a trash bin, I kicked off of it and managed to grab the ledge of the window of the lowest floor. For some reason, this apartment complex didn't have the first floor on ground level. Instead, it was where the second floor would normally be in other buildings. Meaning, every floor was moved up a level.

Swinging my body, I lunged myself up onto the next ledge. Now, I was on the second-floor windows. The floors went up to five. Though, the cat had somehow managed to hop onto the fourth floor.

I pulled myself to be able to stand on the thin window ledge. Looking around, I found the shortcut I needed to get to the fourth floor's windows faster.

I jumped and grabbed the bottom of a sewer pipe. Climbing up, I jumped off of it and managed to grab onto one of the ledges of the fourth floor.

"…" The cat was on the ledge right beside mine and it, somehow, hadn't seemed to notice me yet.

I held my breath and did my best to silence my movements.

"Mrrow..." The cat continued to nap there quietly.

Even though it was still napping, I knew not to let my guard down. Cats were pretty smart after all...

I waited for the right moment before lunging towards it.

"Meorw!?"

"Gotcha!"

Somehow, I had managed to grab the cat by its tail. Though, it probably wasn't the best place to grab it.

I hopped down and landed in a pile of cardboard boxes, cushioning my fall. Getting out of it, I did my best to keep my hold on the cat while it flailed and clawed at me.

The girl ran over to me and snatched the bag back from the cat. "Thank goodness I got that back! Thank you so much!"

"No problem," I said as I let go of the cat and set it free. I pointed at the bag that the girl now held. "But can I at least ask what was so important about that bag? What's in it?"

Her cheeks reddened as I asked the question, her eyes averting to the side. "I-It's just some...new clothes... It's not like it's for cosplay or anything!"

"R-Right…" Wow, way to make it obvious. "Well, whatever. You better hurry home so that you can actually have the clothes for yourself."

"B-But, can I ask you something?" She asked.

"I didn't get a proper answer to my request..." I muttered.

"Hey, I need an answer!" She said.

I let out a sigh. "Sure, what do you want to know?"

"U-Um," Even though she had wanted to ask a question, she was having a hard time finding the words. "W-What's your name?"

"Hm?" I cocked my head. "My name? Why do you want to know that?"

"J-Just because!" She blurted out. "Just tell me!"

Maybe she didn't have bad intentions, but she was still pretty bossy. "Well, my name's Hikari. What about you?"

"N-Noire," she answered. "My name's Noire."

Noire, as she said her name was, had red eyes, fair skin and raven black twintails tied by a pair of ribbons.

"Alright," I nodded, forming a smile. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Noire."

"Yeah, you too," she also formed a smile. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime."

"Maybe..." I shrugged before walking off in the opposite direction.

"Thanks again!"

I smiled. At least she didn't seem like a terrible person.

Though, something about her bothered me. It was as if something about her presence was so familiar. But, at the same time, completely different from what I was thinking of.

Whoever she was, something about her peaked my interest.

And I would figure out what it was...

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I'm gonna be quick on this one.**

 **Basically, I'm writing the last two chapters of the second OC story and then I'll get to editing that, so it should be ready to upload sometime next week. After that, we've got one more short story and I'll REALLY be grinding those chapters out.**

 **As much as I'd love to spend more time on it and write, I actually have to study for the ACT as soon as possible.**

 **So, with that all being said, thanks for reading and I hope to see you all again next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**[Chapter 7]**

Two days until I had to work for that client. Until then, I was allowed to live at Avenir's complex and was provided with a small allowance. Even though it wasn't much, it could last an entire day if spent right.

"…" I walked the trail at the park. Even though Lastation was basically factories and machines, they still managed to fit a park in there. Despite everything, the park was really nice and a peaceful place to be.

While I quietly continued to walk through the park, I watched the children as they ran around with carefree, happy expressions on their faces.

These people, the people of Lastation, lived their lives happily, putting their faith in their CPU. Th people here didn't seem to truly despise any of the CPUs either, despite their meaningless Console Wars and the problems that it had been causing.

I smiled. "If only I could go back to that..."

CPUs, Console Patron Units, were people who were given the role of governing and protecting their nation. Previously, before I had been betrayed, I never really thought much of them. All I really thought of was why they never showed their faces to people. Why would they always be so occupied?

Eventually, I had learned about the Console Wars and what they were. At first, I thought it was dumb. The CPUs were basically fighting for supremacy over each other. Rather than trying to work together, they all fought each other for control of all of the nations.

While I could see why that could benefit them, I knew it wouldn't ever end and would just go on and on. Due to each individual's own opinions and beliefs, not every person in Gamindustri would flock to the one nation. They would either still believe in their previous nation or put their faith into that nation.

And, while I understood the benefits from a CPU's point of view, it wasn't exactly something I believed in.

War was something that never changed. And, war was something caused by somebody's own selfish desires. Just like the Console Wars. It had been the thing that had caused all of the CPUs to despise one another, rather than working together.

However, things changed. Maybe not instantly, but, eventually, the people—even CPUs—changed. They became better or worse people. It was just a long process.

"Look out!"

"…!"

I was suddenly snapped from my thoughts as a ball came speeding towards me. Luckily, I had managed to catch it before the ball had smacked into my face.

I let the ball—the kickball—drop to the soft grass, bouncing back up a bit.

"A-Are you okay?"

"Hm?"

Tearing my eyes from the bouncing ball, I was met by the sight of a woman and a kid, who wore a worried expression on his face.

I smiled at the two of them, trying my best to relieve their worries. "No, I'm fine! It didn't hit me, so it's fine."

The woman let out a heavy sigh, bringing her right hand to her chest. "Still, I'm so sorry about my son. He's a pretty reckless kid and can sometimes do things that make others around him mad. But, despite that, he's a good kid."

Switching my attention to the boy clinging to his mother's left arm, I smiled. "I'm sure he is," I kneeled down to make eye contact with him. From his facial expression, it looked as if he was about to burst into tears at any moment. "Hey, it's alright. Look, I'm fine, aren't I? I even caught the ball!"

He sniffled and gave a slight, shy nod. "Y-Yeah..."

I cast him a wide grin. "If that's the case, you've got nothing to worry about! I'm sure your mommy's just glad you're alright and that nothing bad happened! So, cheer up!"

The boy just shook his head back and forth rapidly. "B-But... B-But...!"

"Hey," I pointed to my arm, showing him my cybernetic arm. "Look, it's alright. I'm a cyborg. Even if that ball would've hit me, it probably wouldn't have hurt."

"W-Woah..." The boy couldn't help but say his amazement at feeling my cybernetic parts. "T-That's so cool!"

"So, are you better now?" I asked him.

The boy gave a firm nod, wiping away any accumulated tears. "Y-Yeah! One day, I wanna be just as cool as you, miss!"

I did my best to smile as the boy took his ball and went off to play with the other kids.

 _Like me, huh?_

"I see..." The mother smiled at me as she took her eyes off her son. "So, you're a cyborg, huh? It explains how you managed to catch that ball..."

I nodded. "I guess. But, it does have its disadvantages. Besides, I didn't choose this option..."

The mother just responded with a understanding smile. "No, I understand where you're coming from. My sister almost lost her life in the recent accident where our CPU attacked. She only survived because she was turned to a cyborg. However, she became shunned by the people after that..."

"I guess I wasn't the only one..." I murmured.

"Ah, so you were involved in that accident too?" She had managed to hear me. The mother watched me with a curious look.

I gave a nod. "Yeah. After that, it actually made me start despising the CPUs, CPU Black Heart in particular."

"I don't blame you," she answered coolly. I was expecting some major reaction. "Like you, my sister began despising our CPU. Could you blame her? Black Heart was the reason for the accident, though, some argue not."

What was she trying to tell me? "So, what happened?"

"Well, my sister came to a realization," the mother answered. "She learned that the CPU wasn't to really to blame for it. In fact, that entire incident wasn't her doing. Rather someone else's doing. She had done her best to protect the nation while we all just cowered in fear and ran."

"… I see..."

"After that, it drove her to become stronger and help protect the nation, hoping that it would also inspire others to take action," the mother finished up her story nicely. Probably to try to put my thoughts at ease. "She's now one of Lastation's top commanders..."

I just smiled at her. "That's...great..."

"Well, that's not the point," the mother said. She stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Look, all people change. Some people are perceived as bad because they don't know the full story. All I'm saying is that you should really think this through before doing anything you'd regret..."

All I could do was smile. "Y-Yeah... You're right..."

"Well, I'll be off then," the lady announced, taking her son's hand before walking off.

"…"

The lady had a sister, one who had a similar experience to me. However, the sister had put aside her own emotions and beliefs to examine both sides, something I hadn't done.

But why had she done it?

Both sides were bad. So why sympathize?

"Oh, miss!"

"…" Hearing her voice again, I snapped from my own thoughts to see her running back towards me, her son close behind.

"M-Miss..." The mother did her best to catch her breath. "I-I... forgot to tell you something..."

"Forgot?" I stared at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"…" She cautiously looked around, making sure nobody but her son was around. Then, she leaned in close to my ear so that only I could hear her whisper.

"There was also something else that convinced my sister. Nobody knows if it actually happened, but, according to some, it did..."

"What was it?" I asked. My heart had begun pounding for whatever reason. What made me feel so uneasy?

She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "Apparently, the Black Heart at that accident wasn't actually her. It was just an imposter, somebody pretending to be her..."

"…!"

She backed up and looked around once more before looking back at me. "Like I said, nobody knows that for sure. But I thought that that information might be useful to you..."

"Yeah... it was... Thanks..." My words weren't coming out right anymore. Instead, they only came out in fragments. My mind was too busy trying to take in what I had just heard.

Before I knew it, the mother and her son had run off again.

I took a seat on the grass, my blank eyes staring at the lush, green grass.

"…" I took my phone out and dialed, waiting for the voice to pick up my call.

"Hello? Hikari?" After about a minute or so, Ganache finally came on the phone.

"I'm quitting the client's job," I cut to the chase. "Sorry."

"H-Huh? W-Why?" His voice seemed shocked at my words. "What happened?!"

"I realized I have a matter that's more important right now," I answered. "Sorry, this is more important than the client's request."

"B-But didn't you want to kill CPU Black Heart?" He asked. "The client's giving you the perfect chance for that!"

I shook my head. "Sorry, this matter, like I said, is more important. I hope you can understand."

"…" For a while, Ganache went quiet. But, after about a minute or two of complete silence from his end, he replied. "Alright, I guess it'll be fine if you don't come. After all, you were meant to be a fail-safe and this wasn't our request anyway. We'll figure something out."

I let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you, Ganache."

"Don't mention it," I could hear him let out a frustrated breath. "We'll figure something out with the client. But, if you ever need anywhere to stay, we'll always take you in, Hikari."

"Thank you, honestly," I said. "Until then, good luck to you..."

"Yeah, you too..."

I clicked the phone and hung up the call, putting my phone away.

I got up and looked towards the sky. "Now, where can I get some explosive charges...?"

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Welcome back to the section where I ramble about my life and talk about various things!**

 **Actually, not much to talk about again. However, there is one thing I will say! This time, it's not some hollow promise. Basically, the second OC story has been written and will be coming out sometime next week. While I don't know the exact time, I do know that I'll be doing it once I have finished editing it.**

 **That's all that I can really think about what I need to talk about. So, I guess that's it.**

 **So, thanks for reading and I hope to see you all next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 8]**

"There," I smiled as I stuck the last bomb onto its final point. After spending about half of the day planting bombs, I could finally carry this out.

However, this still wouldn't be easy. Honestly, it would be nothing but complete chaos.

I let out a sigh and began making my way to the edge of the nation, as far away as I could possibly get. Luckily, it didn't take that long, considering my enhancements.

Reaching the edge of Lastation, I stared into the huge nation. My eyes turned to the detonator that I held in my hands. "Time to put this plan into action..."

The plan had been to create as much destruction as I could in Lastation. The reason for this was because I had hoped it would draw out Black Heart. Right now, all I wanted were answers. Answers, such as the truth.

Ever since I was almost killed, all I had on my mind was revenge. But, ever since meeting that lady and examining my thoughts, maybe I had going about this wrong.

That mother's sister had gone through what I had but still chose to side with Black Heart.

And I wanted to find out why she had done that...

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. The thought of Masako suddenly popped into my head.

Revenge. It was what I wanted against who had done this. I planned to get it, one way or another...

I clicked the detonator.

*BOOM!*

Opening my eyes, I watched as the explosions went off, blowing up the various skyscrapers towering over all of Lastation.

As more and more bombs went off, more buildings kept coming down. Luckily, I hadn't chosen to place a bomb on every single building.

I wasn't trying to destroy the entire nation; I just wanted to destroy enough so that it would get Black Heart's attention.

My visor slid over my eyes, acting as a mask of sorts. My identity now somewhat concealed, I ran back into Lastation, pulling out my katana.

These answers were way too important to me.

*Shk!*

"A-Agh!"

Running into the panicking streets, I drove my blade through a man's back, the first person I saw.

"H-Help!"

Quickly pulling it out, I dashed towards the nearby guards.

*Clang!* *Shk!*

I kicked one of the guards down, using my blade to knock a gun away and stabbing it into the guard's arm, pinning him down.

"A-AGH!"

I grabbed him forcefully by the jaw and pulled his face close to mine. "Where the hell is your CPU!?"

"I-I...don't know..."

I gritted my teeth. "Wrong answer!"

*Crack!*

Using my other arm, I winded up a punch and smashed it into his jaw. His head was forced out of place as he crumpled to the ground.

I turned to the other guard, who had just pulled out his gun, and lunged towards him, forcing him to the ground.

*Krsh!* *Shk!*

I pried his gun from his hands and crushed it, followed by grabbing his knife and stabbing it into his right wrist.

"G-Gh!"

I watched as a pained expression crossed the guard's face.

I got right in his face as I had done with the previous guard. "So, since your friend didn't know where your CPU was, how about I ask you instead?"

Despite how much pain he seemed to be in, he still cast me a glare. "You won't get anything out of me! Besides, if you want any chance of finding her, then you'll have to get the answers out of our commanders!"

"Hmph!" I stood back up, watching him. "And where can I find these commanders of yours?"

"Like I'd ever fucking tell you!" The guard snapped back. "Go find them yourself!"

"What a shame..." I pulled my katana from the dead guard's body. "And here I thought I was going to let you live..."

His expression wavered for a moment. "Do what you will! They'll never show up!"

I let out a sigh. "Suit yourself..."

"How about you fight somebody of your own kind instead?"

"…" Just before my blade made contact with the guard, I turned my head to the side.

The voice had been a commander. More specifically, a cyborg commander, the mother's sister probably. Someone who had been just like me...

Maybe she would have the answers that I needed.

*Crash!*

I kicked the guard away from me, sending him crashing into the side of a factory building. The next thing I knew, the building collapsed.

I then turned my attention to the cyborg that stood before me. "So, you're also a cyborg, aren't you?"

"Of course," she answered coolly. "After all, no normal person could take you out unless equipped properly. It'd just be a death wish."

"…" I stared into her green eyes. "You're just like me, yet you choose to fight for that damn CPU, Black Heart."

Her expression remained unfazed. "That's right, what's wrong with that?"

"I want to ask you something," I had to know. "Why do you serve the very person who had decided to recently slaughter her own people? What part of you could make you want to serve a person like that?"

"…" She remained quiet as her eyes scanned my body. "So, you were part of the accident too?"

"That's right," I answered. "And I want to have answers as to what happened. So, could you bring me your CPU?"

"You want answers that badly?" She asked. "You want them so badly that you'd go out of your way to create so much chaos in the nation?"

I nodded. "That's right... Besides, I'm not even the biggest threat. If you bring me Black Heart and I get my answers, maybe I'll change. Maybe I'll see why you chose to not become like me..."

"… You really are a fool..." She cast me a cold glare. "If you really want those answers so badly, then go find her yourself."

Man, why couldn't this be easier? "That was the original plan, was it not?"

"Well, I guess I'll have to stop you then," she pulled out a pair of pistols. "It's a shame. You could have been so useful."

I let out a sigh, shifting my body to face her and pointing my katana at her. "This is pointless, but I won't kill you. After all, you're like me..."

"…!"

*Clang!* *Crash!*

I sped towards her. Just as she aimed the pistols at my forehead, I knocked them both away and threw a punch at her, sending her crashing into a building.

"…!"

*BOOM!* *Bang!*

I was suddenly grabbed by my head and smashed into the ground. Before I could recover, I was kicked away, smashing through a building and creating debris.

"…!" Getting back to my feet, I found the cyborg in my face again.

*Clang!*

Lightning ran through my katana as I managed to step up to her before she could make the first move.

I jabbed the blade towards her gut, only for it to be diverted towards her hand as she grabbed it and pried it away from me, tossing it to the side.

*BOOM!*

Despite the pain she was probably in, she managed to get a tight hold of me and threw me away, crashing through several buildings.

However, I managed to recover midair and hop from a building.

*Crack!* *CRASH!*

Using the downward momentum, I sped towards her and connected my fist with her jaw. She was sent sprawling and skipped off the ground several times before crashing and destroying yet another building.

"…" I watched as she freed herself from the rubble. She was casting a deadly glare at me.

I wiped away the blood on my chin and stared back into her eyes. This was not a fight I could fool around in. "…"

"…!"

We dashed towards one another.

As I threw a punch, she swiftly evaded it and smashed her head against mine. Staggering backward, I found immense pain strike my gut, knocking the breath out of me as I crumpled to my knees.

*Boom!*

Just as I looked back up, her knee smashed into my jaw and sent me flying into the air, crashing back down to the ground.

She somehow appeared in front of me and pulled me up by the hair so that my eyes could meet her's.

"I told you that you were dumb, didn't I?" She asked. Her free hand suddenly pulled a knife from her belt. "Now, you'll die..."

Despite my condition, I still smiled. "A-And I told you... I-I wouldn't kill you..."

"…" The grip on her knife tightened. "Empty words... Have fun in the afterlife..."

"…!"

*Shk!* *Clang!*

I used one of my free hands to grab the blade, blood trickling as I held it away. While she was in shock of my movement, I swung my legs and kicked the knife away, followed by using my other hand to throw a punch at her.

Managing to connect with her nose, she let go of me and staggered back while I fell to the ground.

I forced myself back up and faced her.

"Y-You..." She pulled her hands away from her face, revealing a woman with a bloody nose and an extremely pissed look on her face. "You little bitch! I'll make you pay!"

I gritted my teeth. Even if her moves wouldn't have as much form due to her anger, she'd still be pretty accurate and much stronger.

*Boom!*

I suddenly found my head pinned against the ground.

*Crack!*

"G-Gh!"

Looking up, I was met by a powerful blow to my jaw. Following that more and more swings were barraged at my face.

More and more kept coming as I did my best to endure the pain, waiting for my chance to counter.

"…!"

Just as she raised a fist, I found the opening that I needed and suddenly and grabbed onto her face, squeezing it and throwing her towards the nearest building.

However, she had recovered quick and hopped from the building, lunging at me.

But, that didn't matter. It was all the time I needed.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR BULLSHIT!"

"You too!"

*SHK!*

Just as I looked to see her face in front of me, everything suddenly slowed down. I squeezed my eyes shut and slashed at her with the blade.

"…" Opening my eyes, I found her pinned to the ground, the katana stabbed through her gut and pinning her to the ground while the lightning continued to shock her body. Though, she was still alive.

Her eyes looked up at me. It seemed she had calmed down. "W-Why...? Why would you go so far for this dumb goal of yours...? W-What's...so important about it...?"

I did my best to catch my breath. "I-I... I told you before, remember? It's for answers... I want to know what really happened at that accident! I need answers from the person I had accused. Otherwise, I could've acted blindly! Now, where the hell is Black Heart?!"

"Am I the one you were after?"

"…" I head instantly snapped to the side upon hearing that familiar voice. I stared into a pair of shining blue eyes, complemented by the long white hair.

"You... You're the person who's been causing chaos around my nation, aren't you...?"

"…" There was no mistaking it. The grip on my blade tightened as I pulled it free from the other cyborg, using her knife to pin her down.

"Not going to answer, are you?" She asked. "Well, at least tell me why you went through all of this trouble?"

"…"

"From what I know, it's because you wanted me to come out here, am I correct? If you have some trap planned, it won't work on me!"

"…"

"Whatever you want, you better say it before I decide to kill you..."

My entire body tensed up. Just hearing her speak made my anger bubble as I did my best to restrain myself.

"…" I looked up at her. Somehow, my visor was still intact. "Originally, I had planned on killing you for what you had done. However, that plan has changed..."

Black Heart's eyes met mine. "Plan? What are you talking about? Like I said, if you were going to try to ambush me with some trap, it's not going to work!"

"… No..." I shook my head and let my visor slide away, revealing my face. "I want something else..."

Her eyes widened and her skin turned pale when she saw my face. "Y-You're..."

"I don't care about anything besides answers right now..." I said calmly. "I want answers as to what happened during that recent accident. The one where nearly a third of Lastation's population had been slaughtered. I want to know if that was you..."

"…" She could only stare back at me silently.

My eyes met her's once again. "I want to know what really happened. I want to know what side I'm supposed to be fighting for!"

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Well, it's the end of another week...**

 **With that being said, I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and are doing well if you're still Black Friday shopping!  
I don't really have too much to say this time, besides the one thing. Basically, I'm working hard to get the last OC story ready for next week.  
After that, you'll be seeing three uploads a week for a while in December!**

 **That's all I really have to say for now. This will probably be the last Author's Note I post for a while also.**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you see you all in the next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 9]**

My eyes met Black Heart's. "I want answers... I want to know what really happened! So tell me! I don't want to hurt these people! All I want is revenge on the person who had caused this! So tell me what happened!"

"…" Black Heart watched me quietly for a moment before answering. "It's true, I am to blame for that incident. But, I didn't know what would come from it..."

"…!" I felt the anger boiling inside of me beginning to seep out. "WHY!? WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU KILL YOUR OWN PEOPLE!? THEY'RE THE VERY PEOPLE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PROTECTING!"

"Just let me finish," she quickly interrupted. "Make your choice once I tell you the entire story..."

"…" Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to lower my katana. "Fine then. Tell me your story..."

She let out a sigh, closing her eyes for a brief moment. "The truth is, it was my fault that that accident had occurred. Not too long before the accident, many problems began surfacing up in Lastation. Unable to handle it all on my own, I enlisted the help of a stranger that I had met... However, she had created even bigger problems..."

"…" I quietly listened to her words. Clearly, she didn't seem to be lying about it.

She continued on with her explanation. "Soon after I agreed to allow her—some strange—to help, she betrayed me by grabbing a hold of me and absorbing my powers. Luckily, it was only a mere fraction as I was able to escape. However, I was left extremely weak. In that weakness, that person took a form to look like me and began slaughtering my people and creating chaos. After that, not only was my name tarnished but many people lost their faith in me. In return, I lost a majority of my shares."

I silently took in the words I heard. "So, you weren't the cause of that accident?"

She didn't respond with a nod or a shaking of her head. "No, it was my fault. I trusted her and had allowed all of this to happen. In fact, it's probably my fault that you became what you are today... Besides, she'll be back soon. She wants to take the powers of all four goddesses."

"…" Maybe I had been too quick to judge after all. "So, that person that had caused this, and was there in that accident, was somebody who had been pretending to be you and wants to absorb the power of all four goddesses, am I right?"

"Yes, that's the case," she confirmed my questions. "That person, Arfoire, has currently copied White Heart and Green Heart's powers. All she has left to copy are my powers and Purple Heart's."

"…" I looked up at her. "You didn't do it, did you? Kill all of those people?"

"No," she confirmed my suspicions. "It was not my doing. It had been Arfoire..."

"I see..." Instead of feeling relieved, I felt even more anger. Deceived by somebody named Arfoire. And their goal sounded strangely similar to Avenir's client. "When I find her, I'll rip her apart!"

"I'm curious... Who are you going to rip apart?"

"…" The two of us spun to the voice.

"Y-You! You're...!" Even though I hadn't ever met them, I didn't need to ask to know who it was.

She smiled. "That's right, I'm Arfoire. A pleasure to meet you, Hikari."

A woman with a gothic appearance, white hair, sharp eyes and ghostly pale skin. That was Arfoire.

I glared at her. "How the fuck do you know my name!? What do you want!?"

"Well, there's really no need for me to say again," she answered calmly, wearing a smug expression. "After all, that CPU just explained it all to you, didn't she?"

My eyes turned to Black Heart for a moment before returning my attention to Arfoire. "You're the fucking reason that I became like this! You slaughtered all those people and ruined Lastation's reputation!"

"What about it?" She smirked. "You're alive and have a far superior body now, don't you?"

"I didn't ask to be like this!" I took a stance.

"Heh!"

*BOOM!*

"I'LL FUCKING SLAUGHTER YOU!"

I dashed towards her, with the full intention of killing her.

"You fool!"

*Clang!*

A spear suddenly appeared in front of her. Using that, she parried my blow before kicking me away with tremendous force.

Somehow managing to quickly recover, I bounced off the side of the building, lunging at her once again.

*Sk!* *Crash!*

Catching her by surprise, I slashed at her and managed to graze her shoulder.

However, she managed to step away. Grabbing me by my head, she slammed my face into the ground, followed by picking me back up and throwing me away.

I smashed into the side of a truck before falling to the ground.

Picking myself up, I found her slowly making her way towards me, wearing a wide smile. "You know, Hikari, I thought that the two of us could work together... Considering your hate for the CPUs and the potential for your abilities..."

*Shk!*

"G-Gh!"

Suddenly appearing in front of me, her spear drove through my body, also pinning me to the truck as blood trickled from my gut and the weapon slowly sapped my strength away.

She whispered in my ear, "But I guess those plans have changed, haven't they?"

"H-Heh..." Mustering any strength I could get, I grabbed her by the back of the head, prying her away from me. "Y-You know what...? I just...realized how useless and hopeless you really are..."

Her expression didn't change. "What are you blabbering on about? You're about to die. Angering me won't do you any good."

I smiled. "I'm not trying to anger you. I'm just stating how dumb you really are..."

For some reason, her expression turned smug as she slowly turned the spear in my gut. "Oh, are you sure about that?"

*Clang!*

Arfoire suddenly spun around, freeing herself from my hold, and shot a blast of energy towards Black Heart—who had been creeping towards her—and knocked her weapon away.

*Shk!*

Before the CPU could react fast enough, Arfoire managed to pin Black Heart down to the ground, materializing a pair of blades and stabbing them through her wrists, pinning her in place.

Arfoire stood back up and turned her head back to me, wearing a bigger grin than before. "Well, do you still think I'm so dumb now? Did you really think I wouldn't notice something so blatantly obvious?"

My nostrils flared and I gritted my teeth. "…"

"What's wrong? Where'd all your big talk go?" Arfoire let out a cackle.

Even though she was strong, she still laughed like the hag she was...

"Oh, that's right..." Arfoire's attention returned to Black Heart. "You're what I really came here for. I still haven't copied all of your powers yet..."

Crouching down, Arfoire shot out a hand and pulled Black Heart's head up by the hair. Using her other hand, she placed it over her mouth with a tight grip.

"M-Mmf!"

Arfoire continued to smirk. "Don't even try to struggle! Your powers are mine!"

While Black Heart struggled to escape Arfoire's hold on her, I could only watch helplessly as Arfoire absorbed Black Heart's power.

As she continued to drain more and more of Black Heart's power, Arfoire's eyes flickered with a blue tint for a moment and her body began to radiate a faint white glow.

"HAHAHA! This is great! To think that you would be so easy to drain!" Arfoire let out another cackle.

I could only watch helplessly, unable to pry myself free.

"You CPUs really are pathetic!" Arfoire returned to her sneer. "To think that you all are the people that are worshipped... It's pathetic. Maybe I could get the people to see you now, like this..."

Arfoire let go of Black Heart, allowing her to drop to the ground and causing Black Heart to pass out. For a moment, Arfoire just stared at her body. "… Heh..."

*Ching!*

A white light enveloped Black Heart as Arfoire radiated a dim white glow. Her eyes turned to me, now a blue color. "Now, since you're the only one here, why don't I have some fun with you?"

She materialized a broadsword, slowly making her way towards me. "Now, how about I try to make you sing, shall we?"

*Shk!*

"Gh...!"

As Arfoire slashed at me, a burning sharp pain ran through my arm. "What's wrong? You seem to be in pain. If you want it to stop, why not submit to me?"

However, I only glared at her. "Fuck...you...you dirty hag!"

"You really are like everybody else in this nation..." Arfoire shook her head, raising the blade to my forehead. "If you really want to die that badly, I'll end your life now."

I closed my eyes. "Fine, do it..."

"And to think that you could have been so much more..." Arfoire stared at me, disappointed.

"I don't care," I said. "At least I know the truth now..."

"Then you'll die knowing that you had been deceived this entire time, unable to exact your revenge..."

I let my body relax, waiting for the moment where the blade would strike and kill me.

At least I had found my answer...

"Die!"

"…!"

*Clang!*

"…"

Instead of the expected pain, I slowly opened my eyes to see nothing impaled through me. Instead, Purple Heart stood in front of me. Looking past her, I found Arfoire had stepped back.

Arfoire sudden shock had been quickly replaced by her usual smug look. "Neptune, I didn't expect to see you here... You're just in time to see your friends die!"

Neptune?

"Leave, you got what you came here for," Purple Heart raised her black katana towards Arfoire. "We can still defeat you."

"We?" Arfoire smirked. "Who? You and that idiot mind of yours?"

"I believe she's referring to us..."

Arfoire and I turned our attention to the top of a mound of rubble. Standing there were Green Heart and White Heart.

"You really think that you three stand a chance against me?" Arfoire snorted. "Last time, I may have been weakened because of you all. But now I have the power of three of the four of you! Besides, do you really want to fight me right now? I'm overflowing with power and Neptune is the last CPU I need to copy. If you lose right here, you're all doomed!"

White Heart cast her a glare, lowering her gigantic hammer axe. "Damnit! I hate to admit it, but that old hag's right..."

"Then I'll say it again. Leave us," Purple Heart demanded. "You got what you came here for. So just leave for now..."

"Wise choice..." Arfoire nodded. "I'll see you all soon enough..."

And like that, Arfoire disappeared in a bright flash.

Purple Heart let out a sigh, turning back to face me. She smiled. "Well, I didn't expect to see you again so soon, Hikari."

I stared at her, dumbfounded. "A-Are you really...that one Neptune girl I met before?"

"Oh, sorry," she apologized. "This form must've startled you. Here, I'll change back to my normal form."

*Ching!*

A white light engulfed Purple Heart and her form changed to the girl I had seen at that cave. The girl that was named Neptune.

My jaw fell open and I stared at her. Was I really this dumb? "S-So...back then...you were the CPU...but..."

"Hey, don't leave your mouth open like that!" Neptune said. "If you do, you'll swallow a fly or something like that!"

"Y-Yeah..." I nodded and closed my mouth.

"By the way..." Neptune's eyes slowly went to the blade that Arfoire had impaled me with. "Shouldn't you be, y'know, worrying about dying...?"

"O-Oh," I had completely forgotten about the sword actually. "You're right. Here, I'll pull it out."

"Don't," Green Heart quickly said, floating down to Neptune's side. "We don't want to take any risks. For now, just let us take you and Noire back to our base of operation. We'll fix you up until you feel like you're ready to go."

Noire?

"Wow, you actually sounded like a real CPU and not like some shut-in for once, Vert!" Neptune said.

Green Heart let out a disheartened sigh, shaking her head. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you say that for now, Neptune."

"You have no right to say shit like that anyways!" White Heart barked. "Have you seen yourself recently?"

"Bleh, you two are such party poopers!" Neptune's shoulders slumped as she looked at the two CPUs. "By the way, why are you two still in HDD? There's no point."

"I guess you're right," Green Heart let out a sigh, looking over at White Heart. "Blanc, shall we revert back to our normal selves?"

In response, White Heart shrugged. "Neptune's actually got a point. Might as well. We're just wasting energy."

*Ching!*

The two of them changed back to their human forms before turning to face Neptune. "What do you say we get Noire and your friend and head back to base now?"

Neptune gave a military salute, trying her best to look serious. "Sir, yes sir! Oh wait, we're all gals... Well, whatever! Roger doger! I'll go get loner Noire; you two get Hikari and we'll bounce!"

The two CPUs nodded at Neptune before turning to face me. "Now, how about we get you out of there?"

I smiled. "I'd appreciate that."

"Right," Green Heart smiled and she and White Heart hurried to my side. "Once we get back, we'll explain anything you want."

And like that, the CPUs took me to their base.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to judge...

But now, I knew my proper goal.

And that was to take down Arfoire and exact my revenge on her.


	10. Chapter 10

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 10]**

After being taken back to where the CPUs were staying, I had been taken to a spare room. I sat quietly in that room, trying to process all that had recently happened.

After Arfoire's assault, Neptune and the other two CPUs had taken Noire and me back to their base of operations.

Now, three days later, I sat on a plain white mattress, letting my body heal while I rested. Silence filled the room while I lay there quietly. Though, I was just waiting for the CPUs to show up and answer all the questions that were on my mind.

"Hikari, are ya in here?"

Hearing Neptune's familiar voice, I sat upright on the bed.

Then Neptune walked into the room, peeking her head in first to see if I was awake. "Oh, you're up! How was your sleep, sheep?"

I offered her a small smile. "It was fine. Is everyone else fine?"

"Oh, you mean Noire?" Neptune asked.

I gave a nod. "Yeah.., How's she doing?"

Neptune just smiled back at me sympathetically. "Noire's fine! She'll be back to her lonely loner self before you know it!"

"I hope so..." My eyes averted to my sheets for a brief moment. "By the way, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting like everyone else is?"

"Well, they actually came to see how you were doing," Neptune answered. "Plus, Iffy and Compa are making dinner and I've got nothing better to do."

"O-Okay then..." I nodded towards Neptune. "Are they staying here too?"

"Yup! They're my best friends!" Neptune said. "Compa is pretty nice but bandages you too tight, while Iffy has a lot of phones and tries to be cooler than she is!"

"Is that what you really think of us, Nep?"

"It's rude to talk behind people's backs, Nep-Nep..."

Neptune and I both turned our attention to the door. Standing there were two girls.

One had long pink hair, fair skin, and strawberry pink eyes.

A lot of these people seemed to have a fair skin complexion for some reason. Maybe I had just been living on the poor side of town. Then again, four of them were goddesses...

My attention turned to the other girl, for some reason wearing an oversized blue coat. She had brown hair with a leaf green bow in it, fair complexion and a pair of eyes that matched her bow accessory.

"Hm?" They noticed that I was awake and glanced over at me. "Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

I smiled at the two of them. "Don't worry, I'm fine now. Thanks for your concern though."

"Well, if you didn't already hear from Nep, my name is IF," the girl with the oversized jacket introduced herself. She pointed towards the other girl. I could probably guess what her name was. "That's Compa. It's good to meet you, Hikari."

"Yeah, you too..." These people didn't seem to be bad but I wasn't about to make any big assumptions. In my head, I always kept the thought of Arfoire deceiving me in my head.

IF turned back to Neptune. "Nep, you better not cause any more trouble, especially for Hikari. She and Lady Noire have already been through enough."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?" Nep shot IF a shocked horrified look. "Don't tell me that you have THAT little faith in me! C'mon! Compa, back me up here!"

Compa just smiled. "Sometimes you can do some pretty bad things, Nep-Nep..."

"No way! Even Compa!" Neptune looked as if her world had just crumbled before her. Her attention then went to me. "Hikari, you have some faith in me, right?!"

I shrugged; I didn't really want to have anything to do with this. "I mean, I guess? You did save Noire and me back there, so I guess..."

"See?!" Neptune spun back to IF and stuck her tongue out at her. "At least somebody knows how awesome of a protagonist I am!"

IF just shook her head and sighed. "Whatever. The other three CPUs should be back soon. Once everything gets explained to Hikari, bring her out to have dinner with us. After all, Compa and I made a lot today because of her..."

Neptune gave a salute. "You can count on me, Private Iffy!"

And like that, Compa and IF both left the room.

Neptune's attention returned to me as she closed the door. "Sorry about that! I didn't mean to put you on the dot or whatever..."

I shook my head. "No, I didn't mind. Anyways, what do you want me to do?"

"Huh? Oh..." She realized what I was asking her and took a second to think. "Well, until Vert, Blanc and Noire get here, I don't know... I guess we could chat or something? They'll be here soon if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm not worried about that," I answered. "I'm just not sure as to what I'm supposed to be doing while we wait for them."

"Then your friendly neighborhood Nep can fix your problems!" Neptune formed a wide grin. "Wait here! I got the cure for boredom!"

"A-Ah..." She dashed out of the room before I could say anything. I laid my head back down onto my mattress. "I wonder what she went to go get..."

*Knock! Knock!*

A few minutes later, I heard a knock at the door.

It was Neptune. "Hikari, can you open this door? My hands are kinda, uh, full..."

"Yeah, I'm coming," answering her request, I made my way over to the door and pulled it open. With Neptune was a large plastic bag in her hands. It seemed pretty heavy. "Neptune, what's with the bag?"

"I already told you that I would cure your boredom, remember?" Neptune asked me. "So, I've got a whole bag filled with pudding for us to share!"

"Pudding, eh?" My eyes slowly moved down to the large bag of pudding she held in her two hands. "Don't you think that's a bit overkill, Neptune?"

"Of course not!" Neptune shook her head quickly. "Plus, we're not going to be the only two eating it. Vert, Noire and Blanc will also be eating some too!"

"But we're going to have dinner soon," I added.

"We'll save some for later!" With those words, Neptune pushed her way back into the room and sat on my bed with the bag of pudding. "Let's just eat one or two for now!"

I could only sigh. "You really want to eat this pudding, don't you?"

"Of course!" For some reason, Neptune's eyes began to sparkle and I was pretty sure I saw stars in them. "Pudding is the magical food that gives all of the divines their powers! Without it, we would be living in a dark time..."

"…" I couldn't find any more words to say. "You really like pudding, don't you?"

"I love pudding!" She shouted suddenly. "If I could, I would marry pudding and have pudding kids and eat them all!"

"…" What the hell was she even saying? "Yeah, I'll hope that never happens then..."

"Here," I caught the cup of pudding that Neptune tossed at me. "No use in wasting it! We gotta eat it while it's still nice and cold!"

"I guess you're right..." I peeled the seal off the top and unfolded the plastic spoon. "By the way, how did this place end up being your base?"

"It's Chian's place!" Neptune said.

Chian? "Who's that?"

"She's this person that made a lightsaber and is a really awesome person!" At least she sounded normal... "Iffy, Compa and I helped her out a while back ago and she decided to let us stay here!"

"I see..." I gave a nod. "Wait, then why are you back here then? You mentioned that you helped her a while back, so why come back?"

"That's cause we need to recruit Noire into our party!" Neptune wore a big grin while saying it. "Y'know, like in most games where you eventually get those overpowered party members with those weapons that can kill anyone in one hit?"

"I guess..." Why was she saying everything as if it were a video game? "Well, how'd that go?"

Neptune's shoulders slumped. "Well, we came here to save her from her loneliness. But then she was all like, 'I wanna help Lastation' and then dragged us into helping her with the machine showcase thing."

"So is that why you're here at Chian's place?" I tried finishing her explanation.

"Yup," Neptune finished the last of her pudding cup. "But then you turned into the Terminator and destroyed quite a bit of Lastation. We all know how that turned out..."

"I'm sorry about that..." I apologized. Then, something caught my attention as I stared at the floor. "Wait, Neptune... How many cups of pudding have you already eaten?"

"Hm?" Neptune had just finished yet another cup and threw it into a large pile beside the bed. "I don't know... Maybe ten, I think?"

"…" There was no way that pile could be ten cups! It had to be at least 45! "Neptune, that's way more than ten! How did you eat so much in such a short amount of time!?"

Neptune shrugged. "This is how much I normally eat."

"…" I could only stare at the piles of empty pudding cups piled high beside the bed. "I don't know whether to be amazed or horrified..."

"I see you've found out about Neptune's personality..."

The two of us turned our heads to the door. Standing there was Green, White, and Black Heart all in the normal, human forms.

"Sorry for interrupting," Green Heart apologized. "Do you mind if we come in?"

"Stop trying to be so formal, Vert!" Neptune said, waving for them to come in. "Get your butt and big rack in here!"

With those strange words, the three CPUs entered the room and sat down on the floor, right in front of us. Though, they did make sure to put distance between them and Neptune's giant pudding stack.

Green Heart cleared her throat as all eyes turned to me. "First, allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Vert, I'm the CPU of Leanbox, Green Heart."

Vert then nodded towards White Heart who sat there quietly. "Blanc, it's your turn."

White Heart wore an emotionless expression on her face. She even answered in a monotone voice. "My name is Blanc, CPU of Lowee, White Heart. Good to meet you."

Vert's gaze landed on Black Heart, though I already knew her name. "Noire, you're last."

"S-Shut up, I know!" She pouted before letting out a heavy sigh. Her eyes met mine. "My name is Noire, CPU of Lastation, Black Heart. We've already met though, but you probably didn't know that I was the CPU of this nation..."

I gave a nod. "Yeah, it surprised me when I found out."

Vert had long, flowing blonde hair with dark blue eyes, fair skin and wore some type of dress. Though, the most noteworthy feature was the size of her breasts.

Blanc was the opposite of Vert. Short and petite with short brown hair and dark blue eyes like Vert.

Then there was Noire, who I had already met. Her appearance hadn't changed at all.

"Neptune, aren't you going to introduce yourself too?" Vert asked.

"Huh!?" Neptune had been busy stuffing her face with pudding. Quickly, she swallowed it. "Why? I've already introduced myself to her once before! Plus, she knows I'm a CPU and stuff, so why do I have to be all formal and stuff?"

"Didn't you mention not remembering anything when we beat you and knocked you off Celestia?"

"Oh, yeah..." Neptune's face drew a blank. "I guess you're right..."

"Well," Neptune cleared her throat. "My name is Neptune, the protagonist of protagonists! I'm the CPU of Planeptune, Purple Heart! Actually, I had also lost my memories of being a CPU too... How was that?"

"That was actually pretty good, considering how you normally are," Blanc muttered.

"Well, now you know who we all are," Vert said. She looked over at Noire. "Now, would you like to say anything, Noire?"

"…" Noire gave a quiet nod, looking over at me. "Hikari, I'm sorry about all the trouble that I caused you... In the end, Arfoire, not only ruined Lastation's reputation, she managed to copy my powers."

I shook my head. "I don't think so. Because of you, I know the truth and who I'll be seeking revenge against. So, thank you."

"… R-Really?" Noire stared at me with disbelief. "You're not mad at me?"

I shook my head. "Quite the opposite, actually. I should be the one saying sorry for causing all the chaos in your nation."

"So, you don't hate me, right?" Noire asked. "I'm your friend?"

I smiled. "Yeah, friends."

"Woah, Noire actually managed to get a friend..." Neptune muttered, letting out a low whistle.

"Well, Hikari, we were discussing something earlier and wanted to propose you with an offer," Vert suddenly spoke up.

My attention turned to her. "What kind of offer?"

"Simply put, we'd like for you to join us in taking down Arfoire," Vert said.

"…"

I had been deceived.

I had been tricked.

I had been alone.

I had grown vengeful.

I had separated myself from others.

But, here I was, sitting with the four CPUs of Gamindustri.

And they were still offering me an option, despite what I had done.

Now I had to decide what I really cared about...

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **So, I'm taking the ACT tomorrow and am probably going to go to bed after uploading this.**

 **That being said, I'll start doing double uploads next week, starting on Wednesday. That means more chapters for you all that read these! This brings me to my last point: after the three short OC stories have all been uploaded, the poll will finally be closed down.**

 **That poll has been up for probably half a year at this point, maybe even longer, and I feel like I've compiled the results needed.**

 **Anyways, I'll discuss all of this at a later date.**

 **For now, thanks for reading and I hope to see you all in the next chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 11]**

After all the introductions, the food had been finished and we went out to eat in the cafeteria. There, I met Chian.

"So, you're the girl Neptune was talking about..." She stared at my body. Honestly, even though I was a cyborg, it was still kinda creepy to get checked out. "I must say, the parts that were implemented into you are quite amazing and are of pretty high quality..."

"Really?" I slurped on the dipping noodles. "I never really thought much about it."

Chian was a woman with pretty pale skin, short blue hair and yellow eyes. She didn't seem quite old, but she looked as if she spent most of her time indoors. Probably making things...

"Well, as a fellow manufacturer, I know those parts are pretty expensive and are top-of-the-line," Chian continued, taking a sip from her tea. "Tell me, who implemented those parts into you."

I shrugged. "Some company named Avenir..."

"AVENIR!?"

Everyone had stopped eating upon hearing that name and were looking at me, dumbfounded.

"Wait! So you're telling me you got turned into a cyborg by Avenir?!" Neptune questioned. "Those dumb people that had tried to ruin Chian's life and trapped us that one time?!"

"You mean those people who are trying to ruin Lastation's reputation?!" Noire also seemed to have a connection with these people.

"You mean that company with that faggot of a representative?! The one who thinks I'm not the real CPU of my own damn nation?!" Blanc seemed to have a strong hate for them too.

"… Um..." I was taken back by all of the sudden questions. "I-I'm not sure... I just know that they're a company that fixed me up and are hoping to compete in the upcoming expo. Apparently, it has something to do with their client, which I'm pretty sure is Arfoire."

"I see..." Chian's look turned grim.

"If that's the case, they probably have a plan to kill the CPU and win the expo," IF suggested. "Since that's tomorrow, we have to come up with a plan as to what they have up their sleeves..."

Chian nodded. "Right... After all, Lady Black Heart is supposed to be there."

Apparently, Chian didn't know that they were all CPUs. I don't know how, but I did know that wearing a pair of fake glasses wasn't going to help the case.

Noire looked over at me. "Hikari, do you know what they're planning? You seemed to know a bit of what they were doing."

"Not much," I replied. "Originally, I had been told that they were making a machine capable of defeating the CPUs because that's what the client had asked for. Ganache had said that, in case that had failed due to flaws, I would be the backup. But I ended up refusing their offer to find the answers I needed."

"So you were supposed to be a backup?" I nodded at Vert's question. "They must've known that their machinery would have a flaw..."

"If that's the case, then why don't we just use Chain's weapon and beat up the machine with it?" Neptune suggested. "It's what we've been doing and Hikari even said that there were some flaws in the machine! If that's true, methinks we can just use those flaws to our advantage!"

"Wow, Nep-Nep sounded so smart!" Compa just praised her. However, there was a mistake in her plan.

"It's true that they have flaws in their machine," I admitted. "But don't you think they would have fixed it? Even if they didn't, we wouldn't even know what it was. We still need to be cautious about this."

Neptune slumped in her chair. "Ugh, you're so lame! I actually used my awesome geniusness to think up that one!

"Must not have been that genius then..." Blanc quietly said, reading a book while she ate her food.

"Well, I say that Chian just works hard on finishing her weapon for now and then we'll just have to be prepared for the expo," IF said. "That's the best we can do."

Chian nodded. "Right. Until then, I'll work hard on finishing the weapon. Since you guys got the ores and materials I needed to finish it, I'll be able to finish just in time!"

Wait...

"Hey..." I looked over at Neptune. "So, when I met you at that cave, were you trying to get those ores for Chian...?"

"Yupperoni!" Neptune formed a wide grin. "Thanks for that too!"

"What should we do while we wait for tomorrow?" Noire asked.

"Don't be dumb," IF quickly answered, shooting a look at Neptune. "That means you, Nep."

"Iffy, you need to take a chill pill!" Neptune said. "I'll have you know that I know how much 67 cups of pudding costs, plus tax!"

"That might just have something to do with the fact that you buy it so much," Noire said. "Besides that, you don't really think before doing anything..."

"Why do you all gang up on me!? I'm useful and the protagonist! Come on!" Neptune just continued to whine.

"Hahaha!" Chian just laughed. "Well, just don't do anything stupid. After all, tomorrow is the day when we have to compete against Avenir. Just try to get a good night's rest and be prepared as best as possible tomorrow."

"Right!"

We all nodded and proceeded to finish our food.

* * *

I sat in the room where I had been resting. It was a spacious room filled with rows of beds. This was where everybody slept. However, it was sometime in the evening and everyone was out doing their own thing. I was just laying on a bed, staring up at the fluorescent lights and thinking, once again, about all that had happened.

Vert's offer was still fresh in my mind from earlier.

"…"

 _"Simply put, we'd like for you to join us in taking down Arfoire..."_

At the time, I hadn't accepted nor denied their offer, so it still loomed over me.

Now, it wasn't really a matter of my hate for the CPUs; it was quite the opposite.

I had been tricked and had ended up helping Arfoire in the end. I didn't want to be a liability to them, yet I did want to help considering Arfoire was the one who had ruined my life.

But one thing that I had begun wondering was why all the CPUs were working together, rather than fighting one another in the Console Wars?

"…" I closed my eyes, letting my head sink into the pillow. "There's a lot to think about..."

"Oh, Hikari?"

Opening my eyes, I turned my head to the door. Standing there was Noire, who looked surprised to see me in here. "Hey, Noire. What's up?"

"N-Nothing!" She quickly sputtered, averting her gaze for some reason. "I-It's not like I was hoping you'd be in here or anything!"

"…" Even an idiot wouldn't fall for such a blatantly obvious lie. Well, actually... "R-Right. Well, did you want to talk? I've just been sitting here and thinking anyway."

"Y-You wouldn't mind?" I shook my head at her question. "Sure, but only cause you asked for it."

Clearly, she wasn't being honest with herself. Too bad she sucked at hiding it...

I looked over at Noire while she looked down at her legs. For some reason, she was blushing a bit. "Can I ask you something, Noire?"

"H-Huh?" She snapped from her thoughts and quickly turned her head up to me. "Y-Yeah, sure... W-What is it?"

"What happened to the Console Wars?" I asked. "I had been assuming that you four had been fighting up in Celestia forever. So why are you all down here and working together?"

"…" My question had seemed to surprise her. "Well, at some point, we had all ganged up on Neptune and defeated her, knocking her off of Celestia too. She had seemed to also gain amnesia from that too. Before we could continue fighting, the situations we had been ignoring down in our nations had gotten worse. Because of that, we had been forced off Celestia to deal with our nations.

"You know what had happened in my nation, but similar problems had also occurred in the other nations due to Arfoire. But, Neptune had begun to travel around the nations to look for Key Fragments for a person named Histoire, who they were trying to help. She had come here before and had helped me out. At the time, I had refused to join her, so she continued to the other nations to help them. Eventually, because of Arfoire, Blanc and Vert ended up joining Neptune in her journey for the Key Fragments and stopping Arfoire. I guess I got somehow dragged into it too."

Noire finished her explanation and let out a long sigh. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble too much."

"No, it's fine," I shook my head. "Thank you for telling me, it really helped. And, again, thanks for giving me the answers I needed. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't done so..."

"I-It wasn't anything special!" Noire stumbled over her words. "I was surprised that it was you who had been destroying Lastation though."

I shrugged. "Sorry, but I couldn't think of any other way to draw you out for answers."

"Well, at least it's all sorted out now," Noire smiled. "Can we be friends though?"

I returned her smile with my own. "I already said so. So, sure."

We shook hands.

Maybe I hadn't been like this before, but I didn't want to go back to being the blind person I used to be.

I wanted to live this life, with these people.

With a will to protect them and atone for my sins through action...


	12. Chapter 12

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 12]**

"…" I woke up to the sounds of quiet breathing. Sitting upright in my bed, I looked around the room to see everybody still asleep.

Squinting my eyes and looking at the clock on the wall, I noticed that it was two in the morning. I don't know why I had woke up so early. Maybe I was anxious for whatever reason, but I wasn't about to stay awake for nothing.

So, I went back to bed, letting the sleep take over me.

* * *

"…" I awoke once again. This time, everyone was out of their bed except Neptune. They were all probably making preparations for the day.

Rubbing my eyes, I forced myself out of the bed and stretched. IF noticed that I had woken up and walked over to me. "I see you're awake. Did you sleep well last night?"

I shrugged as a yawn escaped. "I guess... I woke up pretty early though and had to force myself to go back to sleep."

"Well," IF's gaze shifted towards Neptune. "At least you're still doing better than Neptune..."

"Yeah..." My gaze also went to her. "Is she always like this?"

IF nodded. "Always... Anyways, there's breakfast in the cafeteria and a bathroom in one of the side doors."

"Thanks." IF seemed to be pretty considerate. Well, with Neptune there, she probably had to be.

Following IF's directions, I made my way to the bathroom. Grabbing a toothbrush and smearing some toothpaste on it, I began brushing my teeth. Afterwards, I took a cold shower and headed back out to the cafeteria. Sure enough, breakfast was laid out on one of the tables.

Though it was just some rice and sausages, I didn't mind. Actually, I preferred the simple breakfast.

Finishing, I took my dishes over to where Chian was washing dishes and whistling a tune.

"Thanks," Setting the plates down, Chian smiled at me. "Sorry if the food was a bit stale or cold. I hope it was enough to satisfy you though."

I shook my head. "No, the food was fine; I quite enjoyed it actually. Would you like for me to help you wash dishes?"

Chian just smirked, shaking her head. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it! As for those dishes, I can do them, so you just get ready for the expo while I clean up."

I smiled. "Thanks, Chian."

"Yeah, yeah," Chian waved her hand. "Hurry along before I actually do make you wash the dishes."

I decided not to ignore her kindness and headed back to the bedroom. This time, Neptune was actually awake. Though, she seemed to be having an argument with IF and Compa while she stuffed her face into the pillow.

While I went to my bed and got ready, I listened to their conversation.

"C'mon, Nep! Get outta bed," IF said. "You're the only one still asleep and Chian's probably already cleaned the dishes."

"I...don't care..." Neptune lazily slurred the words. "Five...more minutes..."

"Please, Nep-Nep!" Compa pleaded. "Don't be a bad girl and listen to Iffy!"

"Mmmgh..." Neptune didn't seem to budge.

"Geez..." IF let out a sigh and shook her head. "Hey, Nep. If you get up right now, I'll buy you all the pudding you want. You just have to be here and ready in ten minutes."

"REALLY!?"

"Woah!"

Turning my head to see what was going on, I looked to see Neptune speeding around the room, hurriedly getting ready.

I was done so I walked over to IF. "Are you sure that you wanna spend that much money on pudding?"

IF shrugged. "If it gets Nep outta bed, sure. I'm willing to spend some money on it."

Compa watched as Neptune zipped around the room, quickly getting ready. "When it comes to pudding, Nep-Nep will do anything for it!"

I let out a sigh. "At least it got her to get ready quickly."

IF nodded. "Yeah, we should be able to head out soon."

While I went to converse with Vert, we all watched as Neptune was hurriedly trying to get ready within the remaining five minutes.

* * *

"Hey, why do you guys wear fake glasses?" I asked. "They don't particularly hide your identity..."

We were all on our way to meet Chian at the expo. She had left before us, so we were just going to meet her there.

Though, there was a lot you could do while you walked. For example, looking at the things around you. And for me, that was noticing the blatantly fake pairs of glasses that all the CPUs, besides Neptune, wore.

"You wouldn't get it..." Blanc said quietly, her eyes glued to the book she held in her hands. "It's part of our disguise..."

Disguise?

"It's so that people don't figure out who we really are," Noire continued. "It works pretty well!"

"Plus, it fits in with the style," Vert added.

I could only stare at them. "Y-You're joking...right? There's no way you're telling me that something that dumb could hide your identity. You look basically the same without them on..."

IF shook her head. "You'd be surprised how many they've actually fooled..."

Oh god, she wasn't kidding. "Well... each to their own, I guess?"

We had made it to the expo building, a giant colosseum-style building, and headed on inside.

Inside were many exhibits for each person's displays. It seemed that many people from Lastation, and even some from the other nations, were attending.

"Yo! Guys!"

Looking for the voice, we had managed to pinpoint Chian towards the corner of the building.

She was sitting on the stool. Next to her was a display of a weapon with a laser blade. No fancy hilt or anything, it was just the laser blade with a brushed steel hilt.

I examined it carefully. "This weapon... It looks pretty well made..."

"You think so?" Chian's attention had turned to the blade. Everyone else was also staring at it. "I did my best but I still think it could've used some adjustments here and there..."

"I'm sure it'll work fine," Noire said. "After all, it's not like there could be any serious use for it here."

"…" All of our attention went to her.

"W-What!?" She became flustered and glared at us all. "W-What did I say!?"

"Noire, you're just raising flags," Neptune said. "Everyone knows bad things happen because of that!"

"S-Shut up!" Noire snapped back at her. "No, they don't!"

"…?"

While they all chatted away, I managed to spot something that caught my attention.

I turned back to the group. "Hey, I'll be back! I just wanna check something out!"

Chian stared at me, taken aback and a bit confused. "H-Huh? Uh, sure. Just don't be gone too long."

Receiving her confirmation to go, I hurriedly made my way to the other side of the expo, zipping and dodging my way past the crowds of people and booths.

"Ganache!"

"H-Huh? Oh, Hikari. It's good to see you here."

I stopped right in front of Ganache. Behind him was Avenir's display, a large machine equipped with a lot of weaponry.

To be fair, Noire had told me that it was a technology and machinery expo event...

I stared at Ganache. "Was this what you meant about the expo a few days ago?"

Ganache nodded. "Yes, it is. Though, I do need to tell you something."

"Wait," I quickly cut him off. "Aren't you mad that I decided not to be your backup or whatever for today?"

"Oh, that?" He just shrugged. "Not really. After all, it was your choice. But, that leads me to talk about the news I wanted to share with you though."

"News?" I stared at him, curious. "What kind of news?"

"It's about our client, remember them?" Ganache asked.

I gritted my teeth. "You mean Arfoire?!"

"Oh?" Ganache raised an eyebrow. Oh yeah, he didn't know that I had become quite acquainted with her. "Did you know her?"

"You better fucking believe I know her!" Suppressing my voice was proving to be quite difficult. "She was the person who had framed Black Heart for that incident that got me turned into this! In fact, Arfoire now has copied her powers and even tried to kill me!"

"I do agree with you that Arfoire does want to get rid of the CPUs. In fact, she approached us yesterday and told us that she didn't need Black Heart alive anymore. She said that we could kill every one of the CPUs except Purple Heart," Ganache explained.

"But aren't you a believer in White Heart?!" I spat in his face.

Using his handkerchief, he wiped away the spit. "Well, the White Heart with the other CPUs is just an imposter. Arfoire told me that they'll give up the information about the real White Heart's whereabouts if we were to defeat them."

"…" And here I thought that I actually thought well of this guy. "Well, I'm heading out with them now."

"Wait, Hikari," I turned back to Ganache. He smiled at me. "Whatever happens, I won't hold any grudges against you. Whatever your dreams are now, I do hope that they come true..."

"…" Without responding to him, I quickly returned to the CPUs.

Ganache wasn't a bad guy; he was just tricked down the wrong path.

If he still saw good in me, then I'd try to find the good in him.

And I meant that.


	13. Chapter 13

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 13]**

After talking with Ganache, I returned to where Neptune and everyone else were.

"There you are," noticing my return, Chian turned her attention to me. "Where did you run off to?"

"I went to Avenir's booth to see Ganache," no point in trying to hide it. Lying was never the answer anyways.

Of course, their reactions were of shock. "Avenir?! W-Wait, what are they showcasing? Is it some giant machine?!"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's a machine that they designed with the capabilities of destroying the CPUs. At least, that's what Ganache said..."

"They created something that strong, huh?" Chian showed that she was impressed. "I knew they had big ambitions, but to create something with the capabilities of killing the CPUs? It just seems unreal..."

"Lady Black Heart is supposed to be here anyway," IF pointed out. "Like we talked about, they could be planning on using it on her..."

"…" Looking over at Noire, I noticed her expression waver for a moment.

"It doesn't matter though," Vert said. "This is an exhibit full of people, so there's no way they can try it out on us or the CPU."

"Oh, good thinking Vert!" Neptune's eyes gleamed brightly. "Gold star!"

Blanc had decided to ignore her comment. "I wouldn't be too sure about that. If it's that dumbass Avenir worker, then he'll try to find some bullshit way to get us to fight it."

I looked Blanc. Y'know, I didn't think she would be such a curser when I met her, considering her appearance and all. Then again, they always did say to never judge a book by its cover.

IF nodded. "You're not wrong. I could totally see someone like Ganache pulling something that dirty on us."

"Attention, everyone!" Speaking of Ganache...

We spun and switched our attention to Ganache, who stood in the center of the building. He stood on a raised ring, seeming to act as an arena.

Ganache cleared his throat as he got everyone's attention. "Welcome to this year's expo! We at Avenir are proud to be sponsoring this event!"

"What is he saying?!" Noire murmured. "I'M the one hosting AND sponsoring this event...!"

I grabbed Noire by her arm before she raised her voice any further and made a scene. "Noire, try to cool it. Don't fall into his trap."

"…" Letting out a frustrated sigh, Noire pulled free from my hold and crossed her arms, casting a death stare towards Ganache.

We returned to listening to Ganache's speech. "To kick things off this year, we'd like to hold an exhibition match."

That was when Noire snapped. "Oh, you dirty little—Mmf!"

This time, I had to put my hand over her mouth and just let Ganache keep talking. I turned to Chian, who looked just as surprised as the rest of us. "Chian, did you know about this exhibition match?"

"No, I didn't," she shook her head. "I didn't know about this at all. In fact, it was never a thing before!"

"Of course it wasn't!" Blanc also seemed to be on the verge of exploding. "That damn idiot set us up!"

"Woah, chill your beans, Blanc," Neptune tried to calm her down. "We don't even know if this is a setup...yet... Maybe they added it just this year! Let's just wait and see."

Vert nodded. "Neptune does bring up a good point though. Let's just see what happens. Maybe we're just overthinking thi—"

"And, for this exhibition match, we've picked out who we'd like to display this weaponry against. It'll be a battle to decide which whose weaponry and craftsmanship is better," Ganache had cut Vert off, drawing a piece of paper from a large jar filled with slips of paper. "And we'll be displaying it against the weaponry created by Chian of a small business."

"I'LL MURDER YOU!" Quickly I grabbed Blanc and did my best to restrain her. Though she was so small, she was actually really strong.

I was actually more ticked that Ganache had called it a "small company", rather than the actual name of Chian's company.

"Well, I guess the story would turn out like this, huh?" Neptune turned to Chian. "Yo, could we use that weapon to beat up Avenir's weapon?"

"H-Huh? Y-Yeah, go for it," Chian took the laser blade from the display and handed it over to Neptune. "Who's going to use it though?"

"I got this!" Neptune smiled. "There's no way I'm not going to use it! Besides, you handed it to me, so it belongs to me!"

"Are you going to fight with us, Hikari?" Noire asked.

I shrugged, unsheathing my katana. "I don't see why not. Maybe I could get some revenge this way too."

Vert turned to IF and Compa. "Would you two mind protecting Chian and the citizens here in case something goes wrong?"

IF shook her head. "No, it's fine. Just make sure to defeat Avenir."

Compa nodded in agreement. "I'll do my bestest to patch up everyone's injuries!"

"Alright! Then let's do this, ladies!" Neptune waved the sword in the air as she ran to the arena. We followed after her.

"Well, I didn't think you'd all actually be here... Especially you, Hikari..."

Appearing in a dark robe, Arfoire walked up to the arena, standing beside the machine.

"What are you doing here?!" Noire glared at her. "You already copied my powers, so what purpose does being here hold?!"

"Simple," Arfoire's lips coiled into a smile. "This way, I don't even have to fight you. And, when you all fall, I could just take Neptune's powers and kill you all. I won't even have to do the dirty work myself..."

"… No," I pointed my blade towards her. "You're still weak... I can tell. If we defeat this thing, we'll go and take you out too!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Arfoire smirked. "I dare you to try. Just get past Avenir's machine first."

*Vrrrrrr*

As if on cue, the machine began to move and stood up. Before it had been slumped over on the floor. Now, it stood high and mighty, towering over all of us.

I gritted my teeth. "Fuck..."

"Alright ladies!" Neptune raised the sword once more. "Let's transform and crush this thing!"

"W-Wait, Nep!" IF tried to stop her. "H-Huh?"

"...H-Huh?" Neptune now seemed confused. "W-What in Lastation is going on here!? C'mon, I need to transform to beat it! Is this one of those fights where I'm restricted from transforming?! WHAT'S THE REQUIREMENT LIST FOR AN S RANK!?"

"No, I can't transform either," Vert said.

"Neither can we!" Noire and Blanc said.

"…" I spun my head to Arfoire; she wore a wide smirk. "So that was your plan to win, wasn't it?"

"That's right," she answered. "I'll tell you that I hid a device here that nullifies your ability to transform, but you won't ever find it. Besides, you have this thing to worry about."

I gritted my teeth. "Damn you!"

*BOOM!*

I sped towards her, only to barely dodge a gigantic fist. Regaining my footing, I looked up to see the gigantic robot, it's glowing crimson eyes glaring at us.

The visor slipped over my face and the lightning ran through my katana. I took a stance. "Neptune, we can take this thing out! Just focus on attacking it, I'll provide support!"

"Roger dodger!" Neptune quickly answered. "Ladies! Let's do this!"

All of them charged towards the robot, swinging and striking with their weapons.

*Clang!* *Shk!*

While they all swung and thrusted at it, the robot didn't seem too affected. I sprang forward and quickly slashed off its gigantic fist before it smashed the CPUs.

*Boom!*

It seemed to stagger as its fist crashed into the ground. Blanc saw the opening and, leaping forward, smashed her hammer against the robot's body.

It was pushed back, driving its feet into the ground to prevent itself from falling backwards as it slid towards the edge of the arena, scaring some of the people while others cheered.

"…!" That's when I noticed it; I turned my attention to Neptune. "Neptune, it's the head! Aim for its head! There's something on its head and I think it's what's blocking you from transforming!"

Blanc formed a sneer. "Really? It's that simple? Then, I'm going to FUCKING SMASH THAT PIECE OF SHIT'S HEAD IN!"

"Then let us all aim for its head," Vert took a stance. "Everyone, attack!"

All of us charged towards the robot.

*Clang!* *Boom!*

It had regained its footing and began firing missiles and spraying down bullets at us. I did my best to deflect all the bullets while speeding around and destroying the missiles. Honestly, this took a lot of energy to pull off and focus.

My senses were focused and time was slowed, however the projectiles were still coming at us with an incredible rate. Because of that, I stayed alert and constantly moving.

*Crash!*

Finally, after many tries, Blanc managed to jump up to the robot's head and smash her hammer into it. Because of how strong the force was, the robot smashed into the ground, right on the very edge of the arena and barely missing a few citizens.

It was then that I noticed a shard shattered upon impact. "That's it! We did it! Now, transform and let's all take Arfoire down!"

Turning to Arfoire, her face was boiling with rage. "Why you...!" She looked over at Ganache. I don't get why she blamed us if it was Avenir's bot. If anything, it was her fault for trusting them. "Ganache, I thought you said that this bot would be guaranteed to kill them!"

"I-I guess they were stronger than we anticipated..." Ganache murmured. "Plus, we didn't anticipate that Hikari would be with them."

"Ganache, please tell me you have a backup plan! If you don't, you'll never see Lady White Heart again!" Man, if only Ganache knew Blanc was right here and wasn't a fake...

"W-Well we have a Destruction Mode for it, but it's only been tested once and we don't know what could happen..." Ganache explained.

"I don't care! Just do it!" Arfoire demanded.

Ganache jumped from surprise. "Y-Yes ma'am...!"

Fumbling with a remote in his hands, Ganache pressed a button and the robot suddenly began whirring back to life.

It became plated in a strong spiked armor, a helm slid over its damaged head and swords and guns sprang from its side.

*Boom!* *Crash!*

The robot then began destroying the exhibits and the building. It sprayed flames and rained down bullets. Though, it didn't seem to have any intention considering it wasn't aiming at anything at particular.

Neptune looked over to see IF, Compa and Chian helping and doing their best to protect citizens. "Keep it up, Iffy!"

I shook my head. "No wonder Ganache was worried about this..."

As its attention suddenly turned to us, the robot shot out a hand towards us.

"Look out!"

Quickly, I managed to push everyone out of the way and hold the fist at bay with my blade, absorbing its impact and pushing me back.

Balancing myself, I lowered my blade, noticing a slight crack in it. I looked over at the CPUs. "Yo, transform!"

A wide grin appeared on Neptune's face. "You got it!"

"But what about people seeing us?" Noire suddenly asked.

I let out a groan as my visor slid over my face. "You won't have people to worry about seeing you when they're all dead, Noire."

"She does bring up a very good point," Vert said. "Once this whole ordeal has been cleaned up you can figure it out then, Noire."

Noire just sighed. "Fine, whatever."

*Ching!*

A bright light swept the room as all of the CPUs transformed, blinding most of the people there.

The light soon faded and all of them stood in their CPU forms. They each materialized their weapons while Purple Heart remained using Chian's weapon.

Purple Heart took a stance. "Let's go!"

*Boom!*

All of us lunged towards the robot, aiming towards its head.

The CPUs clashed their weapons with the robots, dodging and chopping off the robot's blades and various guns.

While White Heart and Green Heart continued to destroy the robot's weapons, I ran up its arm while Purple Heart and Black Heart sped towards its head.

The three of us lunged forward, "Hit it!"

"Go!"

*SHK!*

Summoning more energy, we all came at it with a final burst of speed. As Purple Heart came face to face with the robot, she stabbed the blade into the back of its head.

Black Heart drove her blade through the center of the robot's body just as I reached it.

My blade charged with lightning and I slashed through it down the middle, cutting through it's armor and body and slicing the robot in half.

*Boom!*

As the three of us pulled our weapons out and jumped away, Green Heart thrust her spear at the robot and. As it fell, White Heart sped in and smashed both halves of the robot down to the ground.

It was smashed into thousands of pieces and exploded. Though, it wasn't enough of an explosion to harm or reach any of the citizens.

I let out a sigh as we stared at the destroyed machine. "Man, that actually wasn't too bad..."

Purple Heart nodded. "Yes, but we still have one more enemy here."

"And it's one that we are all here to take down..." Black Heart's attention turned to Arfoire, as did all of us.

Arfoire's teeth were gritted. "Damn all of you CPUs... Especially you, you cyborg...!"

I raised my blade at her. "Just come quietly and this won't have to turn into a mess."

Arfoire's expression, for some reason, turned smug. "Really? I have the power of three of you! Do you really wish for me to take your powers too, Purple Heart?"

As Arfoire spoke her words, Purple Heart gritted her teeth. "That doesn't matter! It won't happen if I take you out here!"

"I don't think you'll be saying such dumb things soon..." Arfoire claimed. "But, this is over now. Until next time..."

Suddenly, in a puff of black smoke Arfoire disappeared, nowhere to be found. The CPUs then returned to their normal forms. "Guess that's that... She got away again."

I shook my head at Noire's comment. "It's alright. At least we won this battle and saved the people."

"Yeah, lighten up, Lonely Heart!" Neptune said.

"Ignore her for now," Vert advised Noire. "Go on and tell your citizens what you are going to do. After all, you're their CPU after all."

Noire nodded timidly. "Y-Yeah..."

Climbing on top of the machine rubble, Noire took a deep breath. "People of Lastation! As you may have realized, I am your CPU, Black Heart. I'm sorry for not being there for all of you when you needed it, but I promise that's all over now! And I'll start by helping fix this mess created by Avenir! So, please..."

She bowed at them all. "Put your faith in me!"

"I'LL PUT MY FAITH IN YOU!"

"WHY NOT? YOU JUST SAVED US! THAT'S REASON ENOUGH FOR ME!"

"BLACK HEART! BLACK HEART! BLACK HEART!"

The people chanted her name as tears formed at the corners of Noire's eyelids. "T-Thank you, everyone! I promise I'll do my best!"

My visor slid away and I turned to Neptune. "Well, what now?"

Neptune shrugged. "Let's wait for Noire to get her problems solved. After that, we'll see if she'll come with us!"

I smiled. "That'd be nice..."

"Are you also going to be accompanying us too, Hikari?" Vert asked.

"…" I looked over at Ganache. Despite everything that had just happened, he was smiling at me. "Yeah, I think I'll tag along. Especially if it means taking down Arfoire."

They all smiled. "Then we'll be happy to have you, Hikari."

Despite all the events that had happened, these people had still found reason to trust me.

And I wasn't going to let them down.


	14. Chapter 14

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 14]**

"So...tired..." Maybe I had walked in on a bad time?

A few days had passed since the events of the expo. While we talked about leaving for wherever soon, we were still staying at Chian's place for a few more days. Along with that, Noire had convinced us into helping her out with Lastation.

Since everyone kinda knew about the CPUs now, we were all treated with more respect than before.

It really is dumb how it works... Unless you have a name, you're just a nobody.

Anyways, while we had been helping Noire, Avenir had stopped making any big moves. Ganache had gone off to Lowee while some others came to Chian for work, considering their most recent creation backfired badly on them.

Though, one of the leading people of Avenir, Singe, came to Chian and decided to help her. Since then, she's been busy working.

And that brings me to walking through the door from some shopping to see Noire collapsed on a bed while everyone stared at her tired soul.

"Here," IF offered to take the bag. "I can sort through what's in the bag and get us our food packed."

I smiled at her, taking IF up on her offer. "Sure, thanks."

Then I proceeded to walk up to where Noire lay, crouching down to stare at her face. "… What's wrong with her?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that she's been working so much as of late?" Vert suggested.

I nodded. "That seems pretty reasonable to me..."

"N-No more..." Noire pleaded. "I-I've done all of it... But I'm just...so tired..."

I looked over at Neptune. "Neptune, you've been following her around, right? What's she been doing for these last few days that tired her out so much?"

Neptune thought for a moment, putting a finger to her chin. "W-Well... Everything, I guess?"

"E-Everything?" I repeated her words for confirmation, receiving a nod back. "What do you mean everything?'

"Anytime any of the peeps here need help, Noire hurries over there and helps them," Neptune explained. "She's even done some naughty things..."

"W-What!?"

"Like buying candy for kids without their parent's consent!" Neptune finished.

I let out a groan. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Yo, how're—Woah..." Looking over at the door, Chian had walked in to see a dead Noire. "What's up with her?"

"Too much CPU duties I'm guessing," I answered. "So, what's up? We were getting ready to head off now."

"Ah, well I was actually hoping to catch y'all before you guys left," Chian said. "Wanted to thank you guys once again for helping out with the destruction Avenir had caused. Besides, they weren't bad people; they just had a bad mindset."

Vert nodded. "That is indeed true. Though, are you sure it's fine to let them work with you, Chian?"

"It'll be fine," Chian said. "As a matter of fact, they've been a big help!"

"Yeah, I bet!" Neptune chimed in. "You've haven't been with us for the past few days as much! Business must be booming!"

"Well, it's definitely getting busier ever since the expo," Chian stated. "But that's not what I came here to talk to you guys about."

Neptune showed her curiosity, cocking her head. "What kind of talk? Are we going to discuss how Noire became a CPU by being a lonely loner?"

"…" I looked over at Noire. She seemed too tired to even try to come up with some reply.

"Actually, that's something I'd also like to talk about," Chian added. "Are you guys sure that I can treat you all the same? I mean it surprised me when I find out that you were CPUs! Are you guys sure it's okay for me to treat y'all the same?"

"Yeah, of course!" Neptune confirmed. "After all, you're our friend!"

"Thanks," Chian smiled. "Now, let me talk about what I came here for!"

"And what's that?" I had become more curious considering how our conversation had been thrown off for a bit.

"Well..." Chian pulled out a bulky chunk of something from her back pocket. "This is for you guys."

Neptune gasped. "That's it! It's the Key Fragment we needed! Where in the bacon did you find it!? We've been looking all over for it!"

"Apparently Avenir had chosen this as the power source for the robot they had made," Chian said. "But, as thanks for all that you guys have done to help me, I'll hand it over to you guys. This is my way of saying thanks."

"Gosh, thanks, Chian!" Neptune thanked her. "Maybe we can get some grub at your place when we come back!"

Chian smiled. "Sure! Well, I'll be heading off, you guys can leave whenever you're all ready! Until next time!"

"Bye, Chian!" We waved her goodbyes as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Noire, who had managed to recover a bit of energy, walked with me to Neptune. We stared at the Key Fragment she held. "So those are the Key Fragments, huh?"

Neptune nodded. "Yup! Now we've got all of them! Time to summon Histy!"

I blinked. "Neptune, there's no way that saying something that dumb will wor—"

"Yes, I'm here, Neptune," How in hell does that shit work!? "I see you've collected all four Key Fragments and rounded up all the CPUs. You even managed to get a new member to your party."

My mouth had fell open, staring at Neptune. She stared back at me, wearing a wide grin on her face. "What did I tell ya? Gotta put more faith in the main character, Hikari!"

"…" Maybe it'll just be best if I just shut up and let this happen... All things considered, it wasn't a bad option.

"Anyways, we got 'em all, Histy!" Neptune declared at the voice. "Oh, but Arfoire's got the power of Noire too. I'm pretty sure I'm the last one she hasn't sucked."

"…" I stared at Neptune, who still wore a wide smile. That smile wasn't innocent at all though. "Neptune, please phrase that better."

However, Histoire seemed to ignore Neptune's innuendo. "Then please do your best to not let Arfoire absorb your powers. If she does, then I'm afraid that it'll be the end of Gamindustri."

IF sighed as she returned. "That's a great way to lighten the mood... Well, can you at least tell us where you are so that we can free you?"

"I'm located in Planeptune," Histoire answered. "Though, I do not know where exactly I am. I've been stuck down here for quite some time now."

"It's a start at least," Vert commented. "Any information that we can get helps."

"Then off to Planeptune we'll be going!" Neptune declared.

"I wish you all the best of luck," Histoire said.

As she said those last words, it was as if her presence disappeared from the room.

I looked over at Neptune. "I guess you weren't actually joking, were you?"

Neptune wore a smug expression as she spoke to me. "Of course not! After all, I am the protagonist!"

I just nodded. "Yep, uh-huh, sure. Anyways, I guess we're heading to Planeptune?"

"Yup," IF confirmed. "Have you ever been there before, Hikari?"

I shook my head. "Actually, I think I've lived my whole life in Lastation."

"Ha!" Neptune formed a wide grin. "Hikari, baby..." Did you really just call me baby? "Once you see Planeptune, you won't ever want to come back to this dark and gloomy place called a nation ever again!"

"…" Welp, I wonder if IF has anything not dumb to say. "Have you been to Planeptune before, IF?"

"WAIT, DID YOU JUST IGNORE ME!?"

IF nodded. "Well, I'm an agent for the Guild there, so I'm always working and traveling around nations. So, yeah, I've been to Planeptune before; it's a pretty nice place."

I smiled. "Alright then. Why don't we eat and then start heading over there?"

"Oh! Why don't we all stay at my place?" Compa suddenly suggested.

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea, Compa," IF agreed. "That's where we originally set up base anyways."

I shrugged. "Doesn't bother me. As long as we have somewhere to stay."

"Then let us be off," Vert suggested. "The longer we remain here, the more daylight we shall be burning."

"Lady Vert does have a good point," IF said; she then turned to Noire. "Noire, you are coming with us, right?"

"I-I guess..." Stop. Noire, just please be honest for once. "But it's only because you guys seem like you'd be lost without me!"

"You can come, as long as you don't bring that attitude of yours..." Blanc muttered.

"Alright, let's mosey on down to Planeptune and find Histy!" Neptune said. "Let's do this!"

And that was how we set off for Planeptune and began our search for Histoire.

None of us knew how long or how hard it would be.

But, somewhere in the back of our minds, we knew that it wouldn't be an easy task.


	15. Chapter 15

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 15]**

I was the last to return from our daily search for information on Histoire. As expected, everyone wore tired and gloomy expression. Nobody needed to say anything to tell how their searches had gone.

Though, for some reason, Neptune held a stick in her hands.

I let out a sigh. "I'm guessing nobody found anything new, right?"

They shook their heads. IF let out a sigh. "We've been at this for weeks, but we have yet to find any info about Histoire's whereabouts. Nobody seems to know anything about her, even the Basilicom..."

What she had said was true.

After we had arrived in Planeptune and set up base at Compa's home, we had begun to look for Histoire. However, without any leads, we went to Planeptune's Basilicom, hoping to seek aid from them.

However, we didn't gain much information from them, barely anything. And so, for the past few weeks, we've been searching blindly for wherever the hell Histoire may be.

And, bringing us to now, we were still unable to find anything.

"AUGHHHH!" Blanc suddenly yelled in rage and kicked over a chair, causing some to jump from their gloomy mood. "DAMNIT ALL! WHY CAN'T WE FIND THIS PLACE!?"

"Heavens, Blanc..." Vert shook her head but spoke in a calm voice. "Getting angry won't do you any good. Instead, how about you settle down and let's come up with a plan, alright?"

"…" Letting out a heavy puff, Blanc crossed her arms and plopped back down on the sofa.

"Now," Vert turned to us all. "Does anyone have any new information?"

"Nothing," I answered, sitting down beside Noire on another sofa. Everyone else seemed to be on the same page also. "Hey, Neptune?"

"Hm? What's up?" Neptune snapped from her thoughts and turned to face me.

I pointed to the stick she still clutched in her hands. "Why do you have a stick in your hands?"

"Huh?" Neptune's eyes followed down to the stick. Maybe she forgot she was even holding it. "Oh yeah. I forgot I even had this thing..."

"I've been wondering why you even have that thing," Noire added. "You came back with that stick, but you didn't really mention anything about it."

"She's right," IF agreed. "What's with the stick, Nep?"

"Well..." Neptune stared at the stick, seeming to wonder how she could phrase her words. "I got this stick while I was off searching. Apparently, it's some legendary stick that leads you in the right direction if you throw it..."

"That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard of," Noire shook her head, disappointed.

Neptune wagged the stick at Noire. "Yeah, but at least I got something, unlike you, Ms. Loner!"

"Alright, why don't we give it a try then?" I asked; I just wanted to make sure those two didn't get into a fight. Plus, we had no better leads. "Wouldn't hurt to try, right?"

"I guess you're right..." Noire admitted.

"Then let's try it out," IF looked over at Neptune. "Wanna head outside and give it a shot?"

"Of course!" Neptune continued to wag the stick. "I'll show you all how good I am at sticking!"

We followed Neptune out to the front of Compa's house. For some reason, Neptune began doing stretches.

"Nep, what the hell are you doing?" IF asked, watching her carefully.

"Clearly, I'm stretching!" Neptune stated the obvious. "I gotta get ready for this awesome throw!"

"…" The things that come out of this girl's mouth... "Neptune, you realize you're just tossing it on the ground, right?"

"No, Hikari," Compa chimed in. "Nep-Nep has to get her blood flowing so she can do a super amazing throw!"

"SHE'S LITERALLY JUST THROWING THE STICK ON THE GROUND!"

"Okay, ready!" Neptune finally finished stretching. "Get ready to see the best throw you've ever seen in your life!"

"Go Nep-Nep!"

I just sighed and shook my head. "You two are hyping this up way too much. All you're doing is just throwing a stick onto the ground."

"Go!" And, after winding her arm for a long time, Neptune threw the stick at the ground. Somehow, as much as I hate to admit it, it actually managed to be a good throw...

It bounced and rolled for a bit before twirling for a second. Finally, it stopped moving altogether and pointed somewhere southwest of us.

"…" We all just stared at the direction the stick pointed in.

"… Are we really going to follow the directions of some stick?" Noire asked.

"Why not?" IF shrugged. "We don't exactly have any better leads. I don't see the harm in it..."

"Then let us follow the direction the stick has left for us," Vert advised.

This honestly reminded me of when I was young and found those treasure maps when I was a kid. Too bad they never did lead to anything...

"Forward march!"

* * *

That was how we eventually ended up in a cave below Planeptune's national park. Apparently, Neptune had also crashed there as well. To be fair, she did fall from the sky...

We walked and walked throughout the cave. While IF was examining everything, I was just taking the cave in. It was nothing special, but I had just never been there before.

"Hey, Neptune," I walked over to where she was, sitting and staring at some dead end. "Why did you decide to come here of all places?"

"Hm?" Her attention broke from the wall and she turned to me. "Oh, well that was where the stick pointed for us to go! Plus, some of the people I had asked earlier were saying how it may be closer to home than you think or whatever."

"I see..." Makes sense. "Does it have anything to do with the fact that this was where you landed?"

Neptune also formed a smile, a nostalgic one. "Yeah, maybe..."

"…?" That was when I noticed something. "Hey, Neptune. Doesn't it feel a bit cold here compared to everywhere else in this cave?"

"Hm?" Neptune seemed to have also taken notice. "Yeah, you're right... But that makes no sense. This spot just looks like everywhere in this cave."

"Wait..." I stood up and stared at the dead end. "Look..."

My visor slid over my face and scanned the cave. Instead of just some rocky wall being what Neptune was staring at, it was a long, dark tunnel.

I gasped as my visor slid away and looked over at Neptune. "Neptune, you're a genius!"

"Hm?" Neptune also stood up. "Why? What's up?"

"Guys! Come over here!" I called everyone over. "I think we found something!"

"Really?!" IF was the first to make it to where Neptune and I were. She gazed at the dead end. "What's so special about some dead end though?"

I shook my head, picking up a stone. "Watch this!"

*Boom!*

As I chucked the rock, it passed right through the "dead end" and smashed into the ground on the other side.

"No way..." IF ran up to the wall and stuck her hand through it. That's when they all realized... "This wall isn't a wall at all! It's some illusion!"

She stepped her whole body through it and popped her head back through. "Guys, it leads to somewhere else! C'mon, let's go!"

So we all ran through the miraged wall and followed IF down the narrow corridor.

Eventually, we came to an open wide room. We stood on a gigantic floating platform, colorful coding and symbols brightened up the room.

"Well, well... It took you idiots long enough to get here..."

Our attention was suddenly turned to Arfoire, who stood at the far end of the space. She had one foot over a chained-up, large purple book.

"Wait a second!" Noire gritted her teeth. "You were expecting us, weren't you!?"

"Oh, looks like one of you figured it out," Arfoire sneered. "But, you are correct. And Histoire is right here too. Under my feet!"

"Everyone... I'm sorry for dragging you into this..." Histoire apologized.

"Give her to us and we'll let you go freely!" I unsheathed my katana. "Unless you want me to kill you here and now!"

"Oh? Is that a challenge?" Arfoire smirked. "You know, you all really are fools..."

"… Shit!" I turned to Neptune. "Neptune, get the hell out of here!"

"Too late..." Arfoire snapped her fingers.

Suddenly, a force pushed us into the middle of the clearing and a large mech appeared to block our way out.

"This mech I designed isn't like Avenir's trash machinery," Arfoire claimed. "I built it specifically to fight you goddesses. This time, none of you will be leaving alive..."

*Ching!*

All of them transformed. White Heart was the first to materialize her weapon. "I'll fucking crush it to bits and bolts!"

My visor slid over my face again and I looked over at Purple Heart. "Neptune, be careful. You're the last one Arfoire hasn't copied."

She nodded, materializing her weapon. "I'll do my best..."

"Oh, really?" Arfoire let out her dumb cackle. "I just told you that I designed this thing to take you all down, didn't I?!"

*Ching!*

Suddenly, a light blinded us all and we opened our eyes to a shocking sight.

"What the...?" Neptune stared at her body. Somehow, she, along with the other CPUs, had been turned back to their normal forms. "W-WHAT THE YANKEE DOODLE!?"

"W-Why did we change back!?" Noire was just as confused as the rest of us.

"Like I've been saying, this robot was built to destroy you all!" Arfoire repeated. "This time, I'll kill you all!"

"Wait..." Lightning crackled throughout my blade. "I wanna try something."

*Shk!*

I sped forward and lunged towards the robot. Just before it swung at me, I managed to drive my blade into its head. Plunging it as deep into its head as I could, I ran the blade down its body as I slowly made my way down also.

I then kicked the robot away and freed my blade. As the robot hit the tunnel, it split in half and the two halves fell down into the black abyss space below.

I let out a sigh. "That was too close... Got too lucky on that one..."

"Good job Hikari..." IF smiled. "Now, let's hurry and take out Arfoire!"

"Oh, you really think I wouldn't think about this outcome?" Arfoire questioned. "I told you that you all would die here. And I mean it..."

She grabbed the book, Histoire, and let out a laugh. "Now, I'll use the very person you were trying to save to create something you will all fear!"

"N-No..." Histoire pleaded. "You can't wield my power..."

"Oh yeah? Watch me!" Arfoire said. She tightened her grip on the book. "Now, summon Overlord Momus!"

"N-No! Please don—AHHH!"

Histoire's pleads rang out as a dark energy filled the room and darkened it. Then, in front of us, spawned a gigantic, menacing dragon-like creature.

"M-Momus!?" IF stared at the creature, Momus, in horror. "T-There's no way! Momus doesn't even exist! It's not real!"

"You're right... At least not yet..." Arfoire stated. "But let's make it complete now, shall we? Momus! Pin them all down!"

"GRAHHHHHHHHH!"

*BOOM!*

In a flash, despite its size, Momus had caught us all by surprise and pinned us all to the ground. His strength prevented us from even budging. However, Neptune had not been pinned.

"Neptune, run!" I shouted.

She stared at all of us. "B-But—!"

"Nep, she's going to take your powers!" IF shouted. "Go! Before she gets you!"

"I'm afraid it's a little too late for that..."

"A-Agh!"

"Neptune!"

Arfoire had suddenly appeared behind Neptune and, pinning her down and grabbing her by the back of her head, absorbed her powers. "HAHAHA! THIS TIME, I'M NOT JUST COPYING YOUR POWERS! I'M ACTUALLY TAKING YOUR POWERS FROM YOU!"

"AHHHH!"

"Neptune!"

We could all only watch helplessly as Arfoire stole Neptune's powers away from her. Light enveloped Arfoire as power entered her.

Dropping Neptune to the ground, Arfoire let out a wild laughter. "HAHAHAHA! YES! YES! I DID IT! I CAN FINALLY BECOME THE TRUE GODDESS NOW! AND WHOEVER CONTROLS HISTOIRE CAN CONTROL FATE ITSELF! I WIN!"

Her gaze turned to Momus. "Momus, take the last of this power and become complete!"

Dark fiery energy flared from Arfoire's body and transferred into Momus.

"GRAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Suddenly, Momus managed to somehow become stronger. His size increased and he also became plated in a dark set of armor, his eyes glowing a bright crimson shade.

"W-What the hell!? How did Momus get even stronger!?"

"Because Momus is now complete!" Arfoire shouted. "Momus is complete and I'll release it onto the world! I shall finally become the True Goddess!"

"No... Please, stop Arfoire..." Histoire pleaded.

"Your words won't waver me at all, Histoire," Arfoire said. "You're mine to use from now on!"

Her attention turned to us, still pinned by Momus. "Look how the tides have turned... Now, I'll make each and every one of you slowly suffer!"

"Gotcha!"

"What!?"

All of us turned to see Neptune had Histoire in her arms. "Even without your powers, you're still such a pain to deal with! I'll kill you swiftly!"

"…!"

*Shk!*

Somehow, I managed to stab my katana that I still held, into Momus's hand. I then let as much lightning pour into it and shock him as it could.

"GRAHHHHHH!"

Momus stumbled back and allowed us to be free for just a moment.

Prying my katana from him and summoning all the strength my body could put out, I grabbed everyone quickly and sped towards the other side of the platform, making sure to grab Neptune.

Arfoire glared at me, hatred burning into me. "WHY YOU LITTLE PEST! I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!"

"Guys, close your eyes!"

Just as Arfoire and Momus sped towards us, I pulled one of Compa's gas canisters—don't ask me why the girl had them—from her belt and tossed it into the air, slicing it and creating a smokescreen that managed to blind Arfoire and Momus.

"A-AGH! D-DAMNIT!"

Taking that opportunity, I carried everyone and ran from the area as fast as I could.

* * *

"A-Ahhhh..." Making it safely back to Compa's house, I dropped everyone down onto the floor. Like me, they were also exhausted.

Good news, we had managed to rescue Histoire. However, it was at the cost of Neptune's powers being taken and Arfoire managing to summon Momus.

"S-Somehow...we made it out of there alive..." Neptune seemed exhausted to the point to where she was probably going to pass out soon.

"At least we got Histoire now," IF mentioned. "Maybe she'll be able to help us out."

"I'm very sorry for all the problems I have caused you all," Histoire apologized

"No, it's not your fault," Noire reassured her. "We should've seen it coming from a mile away."

"Still, I did not mean for things to turn out the way they did," Histoire replied. "For that, I am truly sorry..."

"All that matters is that we managed to rescue you," Vert stated. "With your help, perhaps we have a chance at stopping this."

"By the way," Neptune stared at the large chained book. "You're not a talking book, right? You're just squashed in there, aren't ya?"

"Yes, I am," Histoire answered. "If you wouldn't find, could you free me now? To do so, combine those Key Fragments and insert it into the padlock that's keeping me bound by these chains."

We did as instructed and pulled out the Key Fragments. Sure enough, when we combined them all, they formed a key.

We stared at the key that lay there on the table beside the Histoire. I looked up at everyone. "So, who wants the honors of freeing Histoire?"

"I wanna do it," Neptune raised her hand and took the key. "After all, this is my responsibility, right, Uncle Ben?"

Is she talking about that one superhero? "Y-Yeah... Anyways, no use in wasting any more time."

Neptune nodded and inserted the key into the hole, twisting it and freeing the book from its chains.

The heavy chains fell on the table with a thud. "Finally, I'm free... It's been so long..."

The room became blinded by a bright white light the second the book opened on its own.

The light eventually faded away and revealed to us a fairy-sized being that wore a gown. This person, that sat on her book, was named Histoire. "Nice to meet you all! I'm Histoire!"


	16. Chapter 16

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 16]**

We all stared at Histoire, who smiled at all of us. "My name is Histoire, or, as some of you have been calling me, Histy! It's a pleasure to meet all of you!"

"Woah... She's so tiny..." We all stared at her, surprised by her size.

"But she's so small and adorable!" Compa blurted out.

"I thought you'd be a bigger person..." IF said. "But there isn't anything wrong with how you look."

"We don't have time for small talk," Noire snapped. "Histoire, can you really stop Arfoire and Momus?"

"I'm afraid I cannot do anything right now," Histoire answered sadly. "There's a lot for me to explain right now and I don't know where to start..."

"Oh, let me start!" Compa raised her hand. "Who are you really, Histy?"

"Well, my name is Histoire," she began. "I record the history of Gamindustri and watch over you goddesses."

"Really?" I stared at her. "Must be a lot to do, considering you're the only one and your size."

Histoire didn't seem offended by my statement though. "Actually, I wasn't the only one who helped watch over you four goddesses. There was another person who helped out as well."

"Another person?" Blanc cocked her head. "Who could it possibly be?"

"Well, you guys all know the story about the Quartet, right?" Histoire asked.

"I don't," I answered. "What is it?"

"Basically there were these four heroes who rose up and defeated the evil goddess back then," Noire explained. Her attention turned to Histoire. "That's the story you're referring to, right?"

"Yes," Histoire smiled. "However, there's a portion of that story that was left out."

"What'd they forget?" Neptune asked. "Did they leave out the part where they used cheat codes to win?"

"No, not at all," Histoire shook her head. "Rather, it's about how Arfoire also fought alongside them."

"W-Wait what!?" IF blurted out. "A-Arfoire? You mean the same Arfoire that summoned Momus?"

"That is correct," Histoire confirmed. "Though, Arfoire wasn't always the person she is today. She used to be a caring person until the fight with the evil goddess."

"What happened that made her change?" I asked.

"The battle against the evil goddess had been a fight that had cost many lives," Histoire started. "However, it left Arfoire and me to take care of you four. Thus, Arfoire had to copy your powers to help raise all four of you."

"W-Wait!" Neptune suddenly blurted out. "Are you saying that Arfoire was our mother!? I don't wanna be related to someone so evil and wrinkly!"

Blanc chimed in. "I don't want my DNA to have any relation with that hag's!"

Histoire stared at the four CPUs with concern. "If that is truly your main concerns, then I am quite worried. However, do not fret. Like I said, she and I simply raised you. The four of you sprang from ones that used to rule your own nations."

"Thank goodness," Neptune fell back onto the sofa, letting out a relieved sigh.

"But, Arfoire wasn't always like this. Actually, she used to be a good person," Histoire claimed. "The only reason she became who she is today is because the power she had copied from the four of you had caused her to go mad for more power."

"Then, what's she want to do now?" Compa asked.

"I am not too sure myself," Histoire admitted. "However, I'm sure that it involves Gamindustri's destruction."

"Well..." I let out a sigh and sat down on the sofa also. "How do we stop Arfoire then?"

"I'm not quite sure about that either," man, you need more answers Histoire.

*Knock! Knock!*

"Everyone! Escape!"

"I got it!" Compa, who didn't seem to notice the urgency of the person's words, frolicked to the door and swung it open. Standing there was a member of Planeptune's Basilicom. "Oh, hi Mr. Worker!"

He wore a panicked look on his face. "There's trouble! Lady Purple Heart has returned and she's going on a rampage to destroy everything!"

Neptune just let out a dry laugh. "Nah, that's impossible! I'm Purpl—Mggh!"

IF quickly covered her mouth. "That's enough talking for now, Nep."

While Neptune flailed and tried to pry IF's hand away, the rest of us turned to the Planeptune Basilicom member. "Are you sure about that!?"

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure!" He said. "She was sighted destroying things! I'm taking my things and leaving now, but I'll give you your materials you requested for real fast!"

He left a box at the door before running off. Bringing it in, we closed the door.

Earlier, when we had been searching for Histoire, we had asked the Basilicom member for any information he could offer. His response was trying to get us really old books. And, even though we had found Histoire, we had still taken them.

*Ring!*

Suddenly, the phones of the goddesses, besides the only one without a phone named Neptune, rang.

"Hey, all of their phones are ringing," Compa pointed out.

"WHAT!?"

As each of them answered their calls, they all reacted the same. Neptune smiled. "Oh boy... I know where this is going..."

They all ended their calls and looked surprised. Histoire stared at them curiously. "What is it?"

"Apparently there's a fake of me in my nation that's destroying everything!" Noire said.

Vert nodded. "It's the same in Leanbox too."

"You guys also have the same problem?!" Blanc questioned.

"I called it!" Neptune smiled smugly. "It's going to be that one cliché in every game ever! I bet it was Arsnore!"

I decided to ignore Neptune's statement and ask Histoire something. "Histoire, do you have any idea as to why they would even consider attacking now? Arfoire doesn't exactly need to manipulate shares or anything."

"Perhaps she is trying to find the weapons that the Quartet had used," Histoire suggested. "There is one in each nation and they were used to defeat the evil goddess after all."

"Wait, that's it!" IF seemed to realize what a lot of us had come up with. "Maybe if we find those weapons first, then we might have a way of defeating Arfoire!"

"But how are we going to beat the fakes of us to it?" Noire asked.

IF shook her head. "We won't. All we have to do is follow them! If Arfoire wants the weapons, she probably sent the fakes after them too! Then, when they do find the weapons, we'll defeat them there!"

I smiled. "Alright, not a bad plan!"

"Then let us all split up and go after our fakes," Vert instructed. "We don't have the luxury of sticking as an entire group for this so we should group up."

"We should be fine on our own, considering we can still transform," Noire said. "Neptune should probably group up with everyone else. She doesn't exactly have her powers anymore."

Neptune let out a groan. "Wow... Way to make me feel useless..."

"That doesn't matter right now," I said. "All that matters is that we resolve this issue and find those weapons!"

"Then let's get going," Blanc advised. "Who knows how much destruction they could've caused by now..."

"W-Wait, Neptune!" Histoire called out to her as we were all preparing to leave the house. "W-What about your memories? Don't you want those back?"

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that!" Neptune scratched her head. "But I'd rather not remember! Sorry, Histy!"

"Why not though?" IF asked. "That was originally why we even went throughout the nations to find the Key Fragments."

Neptune shook her head. "I just don't. I don't wanna remember why I was hated by Vert or Noire or Blanc. I wanna be the me I am right now!"

Histoire smiled. "That's fine. After all, it is your choice. Then, good luck to you all."

We all nodded and left the house, splitting up.

* * *

I had decided to go with Noire to help her take down her fake. So, I followed her back to Lastation.

While I jumping from building to building, Black Heart flew by me. "Hey, why did you decide to come with me? I don't need the help."

I smirked. "That may be true, but I'm coming with you anyways."

"But why?" Black Heart asked. "I just told you that I don't need you to come with me!"

"You didn't let me finish," I said. "Besides, remember when we fought Arfoire? That didn't end well, now did it?"

I noticed her brow twitch. "Ghh..."

"Besides," I continued, "I can have some form of redemption from this. Killing this fake is like one step closer to fully redeeming myself and avenging my friend by taking down Arfoire."

"…" She went quiet, just staring at me while we traveled. I just did my best to pretend that I didn't notice. "Well, if you really want it THAT badly, then I guess you can come with me..."

I chuckled. "Alright, sure. Thank you."

"W-Whatever!" Black Heart just jerked her head to face ahead of her. "Let's just get this over with!"

I nodded as we both fell down to the ground. In front of us was an abandoned, large factory that seemed to on the verge of collapsing.

I looked over at Black Heart. "Are you sure that this is where Chian's coordinates were?"

*BOOM!*

Suddenly, a Lastation guard smashed through the walls from the inside and crashed into the ground. Turning our attention to the hole, we saw the fake Black Heart. The only real difference between the two of them was their eye color; the fake one had rose red eyes while everything else about them was practically the same.

Black Heart nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty positive that this is where the fake is."

"…" It didn't utter a word. Instead, it just raised its weapon at us.

Black Heart and I both took stances. "Remember, we have to kill this thing..."

I nodded and took a deep breath. "I know..."

"…"

"…!"

*Clang!* *Shk!*

The fake lunged forward. Just before she reached us, she amplified her speed and pounced forward.

Focusing my senses, I managed to read her movements, allowing me to parry her strike and Black Heart with the opening she needed.

Left open, she slashed at the fake. Managing to graze her skin, the fake regained her form and jumped away.

*Clang!* *Boom!*

This time, she appeared in front of us again but faster. As I readied myself, she threw her blade forward at me. Caught off guard, I quickly switched positioning and knocked the blade away.

However, that left me completely exposed.

"…!"

*Shk!*

Just before I could switch into a different stance, the fake grabbed me by my head and smashed my head into the ground.

"Get away from her!"

*Clang!* *Crash!*

As Black Heart rushed at her fake from behind, the fake materialized another sword and parried the incoming strike. The fake then followed up by picking me up and throwing me right into Black Heart, sending us both crashing into a nearby building.

As I managed to pull myself out of the created rubble, I saw the fake picking up her other sword. Now, she wielded two blades.

I helped Black Heart to her feet. "Let's rush it from both sides and try to overwhelm her."

She nodded. "Alright, sure."

*Clang!* *Shk!* *Bang!* *Crash!*

We both sped towards the fake from both sides.

Rushing at it from both sides, we swung and struck at it as fast and hard as we could.

Though it had trouble keeping up, the fake still managed to hold us at bay.

"…!" Noticing an opening, I struck at forward, grazing her skin and causing her to stop her movements.

Black Heart then followed up by kicking her fake down to the ground. Just before Black Heart's blade hit the fake, it quickly evaded and sped past us, dashing into the factory.

"Don't let it get away!" Black Heart shouted as we both took off after it.

Despite having been injured, the fake was still extremely fast, making it hard for us to capture it. However, it eventually reached the end of the factory. Behind it, was a revolver that seemed ancient.

"That's it!" Black Heart pointed towards the revolver. "The Duel Revolver! That's the Legendary Weapon!"

My katana pulsed with lightning. "Well let's hurry and take out this imposter and get that weapon!"

We rushed towards the imposter once again. As it had done before, I suddenly increased my speed right before I got too close to her.

As she got ready to counter me, I jumped out of the way and let Black Heart strike her from behind.

*Clang!*

Spinning around, the fake managed to block Black Heart's slash but Black Heart followed by kicking her into a corner.

*Shk!*

Before the fake could totally recover, I sprinted forward and managed to drive my blade through its gut, letting the lightning run through its body.

I then kicked the fake off the blade and let her fall to the floor.

Black Heart let out a sigh. "Looks like we managed to defeat it..."

However, I noticed a smirk appear on the fake's face. "…! Move!"

"A-Ah!"

Quickly, I grabbed Black Heart and pulled her with me behind a nearby pile of rubble.

*Boom!*

It was just in time before the fake had self-destructed and blew itself up. Somehow, we had managed to get out of that one.

Peeking the corner, I found that the fake was finally gone. "Thank goodness..."

*Ching!*

"N-No..." As Noire reverted back to her normal self, she stared at the explosion in horror. Caught within the blast had been the Duel Revolver, now in a state that could be unimaginable for trying to be used as a weapon.

She scraped up the parts in her arms. "What are we going to do?"

"Let's ask Chian for help," I suggested. "She's good at this kind of stuff."

Noire let out a sigh. "I guess you're right. There's no harm in trying..."

* * *

Hmm..." Chian was staring at the parts with a concerned face. "Sorry, but this thing is just beyond repair. Besides, didn't you say it was about 200 years old?"

"Y-Yeah, but..." Noire frowned. "We really need this."

"I know where you're coming from, back I really can't do anything," Chian stated. "Sorry..."

"Perhaps I can do something?"

"Hm? Singe?" Chian stared at the man that had just walked into the factory.

Singe was a fairly short and plump man wearing a suit. Though, he had a reputation in Lastation with his machinery.

He walked over and examined the parts. "It definitely is beyond repair, but it can be created into a new weapon with the parts we have here..."

Noire's eyes lit up. "R-Really!?"

Chian stared at Singe with worry. "But I don't think a machine can do this..."

"Don't be foolish, Chian," Singe said. "I'M going to remake it. This is no job for machinery; it's a job for the people of Lastation!"

"Singe..." Chian smiled at him. "Yeah, you're right!"

Singe looked at Noire. "If you don't mind, I'd like to remake this weapon with the provided parts. That is, with your consent of course."

"Yeah, of course!" Noire smiled at him.

Singe smiled. "Then I'll get right to work. When's it's done, I'll contact you both."

And like that, Singe left the room with the parts.

* * *

Two days later, Noire and I had returned to Planeptune and made it to Compa's house. Singe had redesigned the gun to be a rapier, which was what Noire used.

Apparently, the weapons of Leanbox and Lowee had also been remade to suit the users. On the bright side, all of the fakes had been defeated.

The three weapons from the different nations rested on the table. Histoire stared at them with worry. She cleared her throat. "Noire, why is the Duel Revolver now a sword?"

Noire and I cast each other a look before answering. "Well, the fake self-destructed and blew it up. So we had to remake it."

"…" Histoire sighed. "I see... And Vert, why's the Wisdom Bow a spear now?"

"When we had found the bow, it was too worn and unusable, so Ran-Ran helped me remake it," she answered.

"And, Blanc?" Histoire turned her attention to Blanc. "What about yours? What of the Trust Spear?"

Blanc shrugged. "I didn't do anything to it. Some plumber had apparently come and used it, turning it into a hammer."

Histoire could only shake her head in disappointment. "Heavens... Please do tell me that the Trinity Blade is at least in its original form..."

Neptune shrugged. "Sure, but we don't have it."

"Huh?" Histoire cocked her head. "And why's that?"

"It's being guarded by Planeptune's Basilicom," IF answered. "They won't let us take it unless the CPU allows it."

"I see..." Histoire nodded. "Well, at least we know where it is. However, that might be a problem..."

"Why?" I asked. "Can't we just use the three weapons?"

Histoire shook her head. "If you want a fair chance of defeating Arfoire, you'd need all four of the Legendary Weapons."

"Well, I guess we're in a predicament then, huh?" I sighed.

"GRAHHHHHH!"

Suddenly a loud roar echoed throughout the house, coming from outside. However, we knew that roar.

Looking out the window, we saw Arfoire with Momus right behind her.

Arfoire sneered. "It's time to bring destruction to Gamindustri with Overlord Momus!"


	17. Chapter 17

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 17]**

We were all gathered at the window, staring at Arfoire and Momus with horror.

"W-What is that thing!?"

"I-It's so scary!"

"Don't worry! Lady Purple Heart will come save us!"

"What? You mean your CPU?" Arfoire sneered. "I'm afraid not. If she was going to, she'd be here by now!"

"Hey! That's not fair!" Neptune balled her hands into fists. "She took my powers so I can't make anyone believe me!"

"It doesn't matter!" IF just bolted for the door. "Let's just hurry out there and stop them before anybody's killed!"

And like that, we followed IF out the door and rushed to the middle of the city, where Momus and Arfoire were.

Noticing us, she smirked. "Well, if it isn't Neptune... You're still going to try to stop me, even without your powers? What are you, a mere mortal, going to do against me now?"

"I don't care if I don't have my powers!" Neptune snapped back. "Even so, I'll still fight you, alongside everyone else!"

"Really?! Fools like you think you can defeat Momus?!" Arfoire let out a laugh as she floated higher and higher into the air. "Then do give it your best shot!"

*Ching!*

The three CPUs transformed and looked over at Neptune. "Don't worry, we'll back you up on this!"

Neptune smiled. "Thanks, gal pals! Now, let's kick this thing's butt and prove it's not real!"

"GWROAHHHHHHH!"

Momus let out a roar that shook the ground that we stood on. My visor slid over my face as we all pulled out our weapons and got into stances. "We WILL defeat Momus and stop you, Arfoire!"

*Boom!*

Momus rushed towards us all, swiping its large claw.

As we all managed to barely get out of the way of Momus's attack, it followed up by spewing out flames at us all.

Grabbing the nearby citizens, I pulled them out of the way with me.

*Shk!* *Crash!* *Clang!*

Just as the last of Momus's flames left its mouth, Green and Black Heart sped towards it from behind, thrusting their weapons at it.

"GROAAARRRR!"

Just as their weapons pierced into its armor and scaly body, Momus let out a roar that blew them back and sent them crashing into nearby buildings.

Just then, White Heart attacked from above, swinging her ax down at Momus's head.

*BOOM!*

Managing to step out of the way, Momus avoided the attack and swiped at the CPU, injuring her and sending her crashing to the ground.

Taking the opportunity, I rushed forward with IF and Neptune. Momus noticed and spouted out more flames at us.

We split up and continued to rush at it, doing our best to avoid the flames.

I was the first to reach Momus, charging my katana with lightning and driving it into its body.

"GROOOAHHHHH!"

The blade managed to pierce Momus as it grabbed and smashed me into the ground. However, that allowed IF to jump in from behind and stabbed both of her katars into the back of Momus's head.

Letting out another piercing roar, Momus shook IF off. But, before it could give chase, it let out a groan and suddenly stopped moving.

Turning its body around, it noticed that Neptune's blade had stabbed and pinned Momus in place.

"GRAHHHHH!"

"Look out!"

Just before Momus's flames incinerated Neptune, I dashed over towards her and pulled her out of the way, the hot flames brushing my back.

Just then, the three CPUs rushed at Momus, ready to swing their weapons.

*SHK!* *BOOM!*

Their weapons hit Momus before it could do anything. Black and Green Heart's weapons drove deep into its head. Just as they pulled their weapons out, White Heart rushed forward and smashed Momus into the ground with a hard hit from her ax.

We all grouped back up, panting and staring at the defeated Momus. "Haaa... Haaa... We... W-We did it... Somehow..."

Looking up, Arfoire still wore a smirk. "Don't you even think about getting your hopes up!"

"W-What!?"

A dark energy suddenly enveloped Momus and life returned to it.

"GRAOHHHHHH!"

"That's fucking impossible and utter bullshit!" White Heart shouted. "We just killed that piece of shit! How did it revive itself!?"

"Simple," Arfoire just smiled. "As long as there are people who still believe that Momus is real, it'll keep coming back!"

"That doesn't matter," Green Heart seemed calm. "It's weakened though. It must have something to do with the fact that we've been telling people of how Momus is a lie."

"Even if that may be so, you still have no chance at winning," Arfoire claimed. "Momus will keep coming back as long as at least one person believes in it!"

"Oh no, we're not done yet!" IF spun to Neptune. "Nep, it's your turn now!"

"H-Huh? What do you mean?" Neptune stared at IF, confused.

"Tell your citizens who you really are," IF instructed. "I'm sure they'll believe you!"

"I'm not sure, but it doesn't hurt to try, right?" Neptune laughed dryly before turning to face the people. "People of Planeptune, we interrupt your regularly scheduled programs to—A-Ah!"

Neptune was suddenly cut off as IF chopped her neck. "H-Hey! What was that for! I was trying to actually give my big speech!"

"Well, people aren't going to believe you if you say dumb things like that!" IF claimed.

"Well, this is Planeptune," Compa pointed out. "And this is how Nep-Nep always is!"

"I guess you're right..." IF admitted. "Maybe she should say something like, 'Hey, I'm your CPU! I promise because I'm the protagonist!' Something like that maybe..."

"Actually that was pretty accurate," I said.

Neptune shook her head. "There's no way..."

"Hey! Did you hear that guys!? That little girl is Planeptune's CPU!"

"No way! Really!?"

"No, I'll put my faith in her! She's always coming to the guild to work!"

"She's always helping us all out!"

"I'll also put my faith in her!"

"If there's even a possibility that she can take down that thing, then I'll put all of my faith in her!"

Well, at least it worked... "That's one way of convincing the people that you're their CPU..."

"But look!" IF pointed at Neptune, who was now emitting a purple glow. "Nep's glowing!"

"So are the other CPUs!" I looked over at the other CPUs, who were also glowing.

The three of the CPUs stared at their bodies, awed. "So many shares are flowing into us... I've never felt this strong before..."

"Wait, why's Neptune glowing then?" I stared at Neptune.

"It's because the people here have accepted her as their CPU," Histoire chimed in. "And, if that's the case, you should be able to transform now, Neptune!"

"Really!?" Neptune's eyes shined brightly. She turned to face the citizens of Planeptune. "Alrighty then! Hey, everyone! I'm gonna transform now and show my CPUness! So watch closely!"

*Ching!*

The familiar white blinding light enveloped Neptune and she transformed into Purple Heart.

"She did it!" IF declared. "Nice going, Nep!"

"I'm so happy you can transform again, Nep-Nep!" Compa said.

"Well, well... It took you long enough," Black Heart said.

"Yes, but now we can finally take this creature out," Green Heart said.

"Yes, I'm sure we can do it," Purple Heart said. "I've never felt stronger before... And there are so many shares flowing into me..."

"Same here," White Heart agreed. "We've become even stronger thanks to the faith of our people!"

"Then let's save our people and finally finish this job!" Black Heart raised her blade.

We all prepared ourselves and stared at Momus. Even though it still towered over us, we were all prepared to fight it.

"W-Why you...!" Arfoire gritted her teeth. "Momus! Destroy them! Make them suffer!"

"GROAHHHHHHH!"

At Arfoire's command, Momus spouted flames at us all.

"Yah!"

However, Purple Heart charged forward and slashed at the flames, slicing it apart. Momus, left open, was charged by the other three CPUs while IF and I hurried to support them.

*Shk!* *Clang!* *Boom!*

As Momus swiped at the three CPUs, I hurried and jumped up to Momus's level, slashing off its claw and following by also slicing off its arm.

"GROAAAR!"

Before it could move its aim to me, IF drove her blades into Momus's feet, pinning it down once again.

Now, with nowhere to go and too injured to react fast enough, Momus was met by Green Heart's spear. Each strike pierced through Momus's body and pushed it back further and further.

Followed by that, Purple and Black Heart flew right towards Momus's head and stabbed their blades into its head.

Right as the other three jumped away, White Heart sped in and, using momentum, swung her ax at Momus, slicing its head cleanly off. Quickly changing her position, she smashed her hammer into Momus's body and sent it crashing deep into the ground.

As we all landed, Momus shattered into thousands of pieces.

"W-We... We did it..." Black Heart couldn't believe what had just happened. "We did it! We actually did it!"

"No, we still have one more," Purple Heart's gaze turned to Arfoire, floating down in horror. "Arfoire is the one who's pulling the strings here."

"Damn all of you...!" Arfoire cast every one of us dirty glares. "You won't get away with this!"

"It's over, Arfoire," Purple Heart raised her blade. "Yah!"

*Clang!*

However, the weapon didn't even scathe Arfoire's skin and pushed Purple Heart back. "W-What?!"

"Don't tell me you thought it'd be this easy to kill me," Arfoire smiled. "You may have defeated Momus, but I can't be defeated by such a puny weapon! Like I said, I've become a god!"

"Oh, then let us try," Green Heart smirked as she approached Arfoire with the spear, the one remade from the Quartet.

That's when Arfoire noticed the three Legendary Weapons. "T-Those! H-How!?"

White Heart also began walking towards Arfoire. "They may look different, but they're the same weapon that the Quartet used..."

"Damn all of you!" Arfoire shouted. "This isn't over! Savor this short victory while you can!"

In a blinding flash, Arfoire disappeared. Black Heart gritted her teeth. "Damnit! We let her get away!"

"Don't worry, she doesn't have Momus anymore," I reassured her. "But what does she mean by short victory?"

*Ching!*

All the CPUs reverted back to their normal forms. Neptune let out a sigh. "I don't really know... I just know that I'm beat!"

"Lady Purple Heart!"

Suddenly, the citizens of Planeptune ran towards Neptune and hoisted her over them.

"Lady Purple Heart saved us!"

Neptune wore a flustered look as she scratched her head. "I wasn't really expecting this to happen..."

"It's really the Lady!"

We all watched as the citizens of Planeptune cheered for Neptune. "I'm glad she got her powers back and the people believe she's the CPU."

"I'll say..." IF smiled. "Who knows what could've happened if they hadn't given Nep her powers back?"

"Lady Purple Heart!"

The cheers stopped and Neptune was set down. The crowd around her cleared a path for a Basilicom member as he approached us. It was the one from before. In his hands was a sword wrapped in a cloth of silk.

"Lady Purple Heart, we're sorry about not believing you sooner," the member apologized and offered the sword. "As proof, we from the Basilicom offer you the Trinity Blade you had requested for."

"Oh, thanks!" Neptune took the sword and pulled off the cloth, revealing the sword. "Woah! This sword is pretty sick!'

"W-Wait..." Histoire stared at it in horror. I feel like I know what she's about to say. "T-That wasn't what the Trinity Blade originally looked like..."

"Well, since it was so old and unusable, we remodeled it to be a weapon fit for the Lady."

"…" Looking over at Histoire, she didn't seem to be holding up well. "All of the weapons... T-They're..."

"Oh relax, Histy!" Neptune said. "At least we got all four now!"

Noire nodded. "All that's left is to find Arfoire and to bring her down."

"DENIZENS OF THIS WORLD!" Speaking of Arfoire... "YOU SHALL ALL PERISH! CRY AND SCREAM AS YOUR WORLD IS DESTROYED!"

"T-That's Arfoire!" Neptune stated. "But where is she? I can't see her!"

"Most likely in Celestia," Histoire suggested. "Nobody would be able to reach her up there."

*BOOM!*

"W-Woah!"

Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently. "H-Hey! What's going on?!"

"T-The nations..." Histoire seemed to know. "T-They're moving closer and closer towards each other! They're going to collide!"

I gritted my teeth. "So that's her plan... Then let's get up to Celestia and stop her!"

"How do we do that?" IF asked.

"I would normally suggest to go to the Basilicom and into one of the gates that take us up there," Histoire began. "But I think that this tremor is affecting those too. There is another way, though. There's a ruin that leads to the Rainbow Bridge, the path the Quartet used."

"Then let's hurry over there!" Blanc shouted. "We're wasting time!"

Histoire nodded. "R-Right! Follow me!"

* * *

We had followed Histoire to the ruins of an old dungeon. We were led to a dead end, where there were several carvings, most likely the carvings for the Legendary Weapons.

"This is the path that'll lead you to Celestia," Histoire explained. "The key to opening the path is to place the weapons into their respective slots. However, since all the weapons have been modified, we'll have to find some way to make it work."

"That's easy then!' Neptune said nonchalantly. "We'll just force them to fit then!"

"W-What!?" Histoire's jaw dropped at Neptune's words. "N-No! Who knows what'll happen if—"

"Just let it happen, Histoire," I suggested. "If Arfoire destroys the world, there'll be no ruins and tradition to worry about."

"…" Histoire could only sigh. "I guess you're right... Very well then... I'm going to ask that you place the weapons in their corresponding position, alright? Whatever you do, please do your best to try not to damage this place or the weapons too much."

"Bah, you worry too much, Histy!" Neptune let out a laugh. "Now, hurry up!"

"R-Right..." Histoire cleared her throat and started off by pointing to the left side of the carvings. "Over there is where the Wisdom Spear goes, Vert's weapon."

Vert smiled as we all stared at the slot with wonder. "Oh, this should be simple to get in."

"I do wonder how you'll—H-Hey!" Histoire's jaw dropped as we all watched Vert bend her spear until it fit into the carving. "T-The weapon..."

"Just keep going," IF could only shake her head. "We can all cry later."

Histoire did as instructed and pointed towards the southern part of the wall. "That is where the Duel Revolver will go."

"Let me show you amateurs how it's done," Noire smirked as she walked up to the carving and placed her blade's hilt into the carving, letting the blade jut out at us. "There, now it fits!"

Histoire just seemed to swallow her words and pointed to the right. "Blanc, that's where the Trust Spear goes."

"Don't worry, I got this," Blanc casually walked up to the carving. However, instead of thinking up some elaborate way of making it fit, Blanc just shoved it into the carving. "There, problem solved."

"…" Histoire just stared at the carving, horrified and unable to tell Neptune what to do.

"Relax, Histy," Neptune said as she walked up to her carving. "I won't be like Vert and try to bend my weapon or shove my weapon into there like Blanc did! Look, I already carved it out to fit my weapon!"

"…" At this point, Histoire looked as if she were on the brink of death. "Y-You...c-c-carved it..."

I sighed. It's times like these that make you wonder how these four actually became CPUs. "You know what? Just put it in, Neptune. Let's get this over with before you guys end up killing Histoire."

"Fine, fine!" Neptune stuck out her tongue at me. Then she spun back to the carving and fit her weapon into it.

The dead end crumbled down and revealed a rainbow pathway that led up and up into the sky.

We all stared at it in awe as the four CPUs picked their weapons back up. "So this is the road to Celestia, huh?"

Histoire nodded. "Yes, it is. However, we do not have the time to admire its beauty. Come, let us hurry to Celestia and finally put an end to Arfoire's madness."

Nodding, we all hurried up the rainbow path.

* * *

"Well, well, well... Why am I not surprised to see you brats all here again?"

We had just made it to the top to see Arfoire standing there, who had been overlooking Gamindustri. Once we had arrived, she had turned to face us.

"Put an end to this right now, Arfoire!" I raised my blade. "You still have a chance to redeem yourself!"

"Really? You speak of redemption?" Arfoire chuckled. "The only redemption I want is to finally kill you all and for not doing it sooner. Maybe if I had, you all wouldn't be such a pain."

"Please, come back, Arfoire," Histoire begged.

"Shut it! Your pleads won't do you any good now," Arfoire smirked. "Besides, why would I come back when I have all this power!? There's no way I'm losing it now!"

"Arfoire..." Histoire stared at her, disappointed. "Then, I guess there really is no choice but to stop you..."

*Ching!*

All four of the CPUs transformed as we readied our weapons.

"Fools! You are all fools!" Arfoire shouted. "All of you will perish here and now! You cannot defeat a god, even with those Legendary Weapons! I'll kill all of you and you'll all go down with Gamindustri!'

A katana suddenly appeared in her hands as she fired a blast of dark energy at us.

"Look out!"

*Boom!*

As we all dispersed and got out of the way, Arfoire somehow managed to split into four copies of herself and each one attacked us.

*Clang!* *Shk* *Boom!*

One attacked IF and I, slashing away at us both.

Managing to deflect and parry her strikes, I had left IF with several openings that Arfoire hadn't noticed. This allowed IF to drive her blades right through Arfoire and smash her into the ground, causing the clone to disappear.

We both then ran over to where Green Heart was, fighting her clone alone.

*Clang!* *Shk!*

As Green Heart managed to block several strikes and push the fake away, I lunged forward and slashed off the fake's head, causing yet another to disappear.

Green Heart smiled at us as we recovered our balance. "Thanks to you both. Now, let's help the others also."

As Green Heart and IF went to help White Heart, I went to help Black Heart.

*Clang!* *Shk!* *BOOM!*

Just as Black Heart was pushed back and Arfoire charged towards her, I found the opening to allow me to drive my blade into the clone's gut, followed up by smashing it into the ground and creating a small crater.

Black Heart nodded and smiled. "Thanks."

*SMASH!*

Looking to our left, we saw White Heart smashing her opponent deep into the ground. We all then rushed towards Purple Heart's clone.

*Shk!* *CRASH*

Suddenly interrupting the Arfoire clone and Purple Heart's battle, Black Heart swiftly sliced off the clone's head, followed by White Heart swinging her ax and sending the last clone flying off Celestia.

"…!"

*Shk!*

"G-Gh!"

Just as everyone else lowered their guard, I sped away from the group and managed to drive my blade into the real Arfoire—who had actually been hiding behind a tree—and pin her into the tree.

The lightning surged throughout the blade as it shocked her. I smiled. "Now, I will get MY redemption!"

Stressing my body and honing all my abilities at once, I quickly pulled the blade out as time around seemed to slow down. I then followed by slashing away at Arfoire, spilling blood and cutting into her multiple times.

"THIS IS FOR ALL THE PEOPLE YOU KILLED!"

*SHK!*

Just before Arfoire became a bloody mess, I stabbed my blade right through her head and let as much lightning pour and shock Arfoire as I could.

"A-AGHHHHHHHH!"

As my body lost the rush I had had, I pulled the blade out and kicked Arfoire towards where everyone else was.

They gasped and stared at her body; it was slowly dissolving like burning paper. Black Heart looked up at me. "Hikari, that was a bit too much!"

I shook my head. "No, watch and back up."

"H-Huh!?"

"NO! I WON'T LOSE HERE!" Arfoire, despite her physical form being taken from her, was still somehow alive. "I WON'T ACCEPT THIS FATE! I AM A GOD! I'LL CRUSH YOU ALL!"

Her remains suddenly began glowing and took the form of a gigantic dragon-like creature, it's crimson eyes glared at us. "KILL! EVERYONE!"

Histoire could only stare at Arfoire's new form with disappointment. "Arfoire... To think you'd sell your soul just to become someone like this..."

"Then let's take her out," Purple Heart said. "Arfoire, I'm sorry. But it's come to this..."

However, Arfoire didn't seem to hear Purple Heart's words. "KILL! DESTROY EVERYTHING!"

*Clang!* *BOOM!*

As Arfoire swiped at us with incredibly fast speed, I quickly rushed in and countered her strike, allowing for the opening we needed.

Instantly, White Heart rushed at Arfoire, with Black and Green Heart following close behind.

*CRASH!* *SHK!*

White Heart's ax smashed into Arfoire and sent her crashing deep into the ground. Black Heart then followed by driving her blade through Arfoire's head. Pulling away, Green Heart sped in and thrust her spear at Arfoire with lightning speed, driving her deeper into Celestia.

"THIS IS THE END!"

Just as the other three CPUs got out of the way, Purple Heart charged towards Arfoire, her blade glowing a shining rainbow color.

Her blade drove right through Arfoire as Purple Heart managed to also smash through the rest of the ground, creating a hole in Celestia.

As she flew back to us, Arfoire's body exploded and she reappeared as her former self, shriveled up and weakened on the ground in front of us. Her eyes still glowed a burning crimson. "N-No... P-Power... G-God... GRAHHHHHHH!"

"W-Woah!"

Celestia began shaking violently. We all looked at Histoire. "Histoire, what's going on!?"

"Arfoire is trying to take us all down with Celestia by blowing it up!"

"WHAT!?"

"Come, let us hurry out of here before this land explodes!"

I nodded. "Yeah, let's go!"

"You guys go on ahead..."

"H-Huh?!" We spun back to see Purple Heart hadn't moved an inch. Instead, she just stood there, staring at Arfoire.

"Nep, are you insane!?" IF shouted. "This place is going to blow! You'll die!"

"I know! I really do!" She replied quickly. "But I believe I can save Arfoire, despite all that she's done! I think the reason she wanted our powers originally was so that she could raise us properly. So, please help me pray for Arfoire!"

"…" I sighed. "I'll pray for her..."

Purple Heart looked over at me. "Hikari..."

"You better come back alive though," I smiled at her. "After all, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been able to be happy again. So please, save Arfoire like how you all saved me..."

She nodded. "Yes, I promise! I promise I'll return and I promise to bring Arfoire back with me!"

"Then we'll all pray for you and Arfoire," Green Heart smiled.

"Thank you... Everyone..." Tears flowed down Purple Heart's eyes. "Now, go! I promise I'll be back! Just wait for me!"

"Everyone, let's go now!" Histoire instructed.

I nodded. "Yeah..."

And like that, we all left Celestia and Arfoire and Neptune...

We had just escaped before the island soon exploded...

But I still believed in Neptune. Because, despite who she was, she never broke a promise, ever...

And I believed that she would return. Maybe not today, tomorrow, the week after, or a month later. But, someday, she would.


	18. Chapter 18

**There's a story poll on my page. It's about what I'll write after all the short OC stories have been written and uploaded. With that being said, your feedback on that would be greatly appreciated.**

* * *

 **[Chapter 18]**

It had been approximately a year since we had defeated Arfoire.

Nothing particularly special had happened ever since then. Most of us just returned to our normal everyday lives. Though, since I didn't exactly have a job, I just worked at the Guild with IF and helped her out with duties around Gamindustri.

Celestia was gone, that was a fact. For the first few days after the battle, we stayed and waited for Neptune to return. However, she never did. So, we eventually all just returned to our day-to-day lives.

Of course, Histoire had gone to look for her, but, in the end, she couldn't find anything.

As to the nations destruction, they were eventually repaired and some were replaced or remade. Though, many were just glad that the nations hadn't collided.

Besides that, Noire went back to Lastation, working there diligently.

Ganache had also gone back to Lastation, after realizing that the White Heart that he had known wasn't truly her. So, he went back to Lastation and helped Noire out at the Basilicom and with business affairs.

Along with that, he offered me a home to stay at. However, I simply refused his offer and thanked him anyways. Besides, living with IF was pretty fun and I didn't want to burden Ganache.

Besides Noire and Ganache, Vert had gone back to her normal duties as well. Though, they weren't exactly productive things, considering her daily routine involved nothing but sitting locked in her room and playing video games all day long without any breaks. So, everyone else in her Basilicom had to do the work for her.

And then there was Blanc, who went back to Lowee and just sat in her room and wrote for as long as she could. Though, I had recently heard that her power had been cut and she was forced to actually go outside. At least she was playing with the kids out there. At least, I hope that was what she was doing.

And then there was Compa and IF. Nothing really special honestly. Compa lived her normal life of doing whatever while IF and I worked for the Guild.

Though, today, we were visiting Compa and having a picnic at where Neptune had first arrived. Actually, where she had first crashed at.

*Knock! Knock!*

IF knocked on the door. "Compa, it's us!"

"Oh, come in!" Compa called.

We both stepped into her home. Despite all the time that had passed, Compa's house was still filled with pink and hearts.

IF smiled at Compa. "Man, it's so good to see you, Compa! We've been so busy recently!"

I let out a sigh as I closed the door behind me. "I'll say..."

"Well, I'm glad to see the two of you!" Compa flashed her usual smile.

"Hm? Oh, hey, Histoire!" I waved at her as I noticed her. "What are you doing here?"

Histoire smiled. "I just came to visit. You two also seem to be doing well..."

I smiled. "Yeah, I guess... But I'll never honestly get used to this body..."

"Well, that's beside the point," IF turned her attention to Histoire. "Do you wanna come with us? We're all going on a picnic."

"Are you sure?" Histoire asked. "I don't want to bother the three of you..."

"It's alright," IF reassured her. "The more the merrier!"

Histoire smiled. "Alright. Then let us be off to—"

"I'M FALLING! WAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

*Crash!*

"W-Woah!"

The roof was broken as someone crashed into the house through the roof.

"W-Wait..." The debris was settling and I could make out who it was. "N-Neptune?!"

The smoke cleared and confirmed my assumption. It was Neptune, smiling at us. "Guess what? I'm officially back y'all!"

"Is it really you, Nep-Nep?" Compa stared at her, unable to believe she was actually standing there.

"Yup! It's the main protagonist in the flesh!" Neptune formed a wide grin and flashed a peace sign.

"I'm glad you're back, Nep. But what took you so long?" IF asked. "You've been gone for an entire year! We were starting to believe you were dead!"

"Well, there was a lot of stuff to do," Neptune claimed. "Plus, when I was flying down here in HDD, I got hungry and took a detour. But I guess my HDD ran out and I fell through the roof..."

"Well, I guess that answers that..." Compa stared at the hole in her house, saddened. "All those repair costs..."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Neptune blurted out. "I wanna introduce y'all to someone!"

We all cocked our heads at her. "Introduce?"

She ran to the door and swung it open for someone who just happened to be standing there. "Ah, good timing, Arfoire!"

This woman, who Neptune was claiming to be Arfoire, looked nothing like Arfoire. She had flowing silver hair and, like everyone I had met in this entire adventure, fair skin.

Arfoire sighed. "Thank goodness I found you, Neptune..."

Okay, with that voice, it was definitely Arfoire. "T-That's actually Arfoire?!"

"Yup! I found her in Celestia like this!" Neptune smiled. "I couldn't believe it either when I first saw her!"

"Arfoire...?" Histoire floated over to her. "I-Is that really you?"

Arfoire smiled at Histoire. "Yes, and I'm sorry for everything I have done. I swear that, for the rest of my life, I will work to redeem myself for all my wrongful actions."

"It'll be a tough path ahead then..." Histoire smiled. "So let me help you."

Arfoire returned with her own smile. I still couldn't believe that this person was once that gothic Arfoire. "Thank you, Histoire."

"Oh, wait!" Compa ran over to IF and I, whispering into our ears. "Let's welcome Nep-Nep back!"

We all smiled. "Alright, sure."

We turned to Neptune, who was looking at the lunchboxes we had packed for the picnic. "Hey! Were you guys going to go picnicking without me?"

"Hey, Nep," IF called to her.

"Hm?" She looked over at us. "What's up?"

Compa smiled. "Three...two...one!"

"Welcome back, Neptune!"

"…" Neptune formed a wide smile on her face. "I'm home!"

The path I had taken wasn't exactly the cleanest one, nor had it been one I had wished for.

But, in the end, I had learned many things, made new friends and even found something new to believe in.

I had thought I had redeemed myself when I had originally killed Arfoire.

But that wasn't it.

It was Neptune and her choice to save Arfoire that was the true redemption.

It was because of her, Noire, Vert, Blanc, IF, Compa Histoire and Ganache that I was able to carry on living this life.

They all gave me a second chance.

And I wasn't going to waste it...

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Alright, so here's the last chapter of all 3 OC stories!  
That also means that today is the last day to vote in the poll! It's the last day to vote on what I write in the future!  
On a different note, I'm going to be taking my break after this. Like I said before, I'm not sure how long the break will be, but I know I'll be back when my passion for writing returns. Just know that I'll be back next year. I just don't know when exactly.**

 **Anyways, now that all the stories have been uploaded, my page has also been updated with the 3 OCs in the stories. Credits are given out to whoever created the OCs.**

 **Anyways, that's it for me I guess. I hope you all have a good New Years!  
This will be the last time you see me for a while, until an update on _An Anniversary_.**

 **So, until then, thank you all so much for sticking with me this year and I hope to see you all again sometime!**


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